Taking in a Stray Cat
by fmdevil
Summary: AU: Despite the rumors about Kuraigana Island being home to a Green Demon who carries three swords; the cat burglar Nami couldn't pass up the huge score of treasure said to be left on the island.But when she is caught by the Demon, the Demon's friends and family find out and try to make him keep her.But how does Nami feel about all that?
1. Chapter 1

Things to know before we get started:

1: This is an AU that takes place in the One Piece world, but has a modern twist: Places like Kuraigana Island, Alabasta, the four blues, the Grandline and New World all exist, but they might be a little different depending on how I want to depict them. The modern twist I am referring to is that some of our technologies will also exist in this AU as well: cell-phones, cars, motor-speed-boats, planes, etc…

2: Family relationships as well as some ages for the characters are subject to change compared to what they are in the actual one piece canon. The straw-hat crew's ages will be intact and will all be post time-skip (unless I am referring to a flashback), but other character's ages will depend on how they fit into the AU, example: Perona plays a big part in this story and since I don't know Perona's actual age she will be 22 for the sake of this story.

3: Devil fruits, as well as some of the wackier animals and things like that will exist: The Humandrills will exist for certain, Chopper will remain a reindeer, Brook will remain a skeleton, etc…

Well those are the main things I may forget to explain throughout this story, but everything else will be explained over time. But I can't help feel like I'm forgetting something… hmmm… Oh yeah!

I do not own One Piece ;}

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**Taking in a Stray Cat: Chapter 1**

As the mikan-head continued to sail towards her destination she cursed her luck, for if she didn't have bad luck, she wouldn't have any luck at all. She had known how dangerous and unpredictable the weather could get in the Grandline and her great talent for reading and predicting the weather had warned her that the violent thunderstorm that she was now currently traveling through had been coming, but recent information she got on the last island she had left had Beli signs flashing in her eyes and against all reasonable logic, she decided to take a chance and set sail for her destination, Kuraigana Island, and in a tiny sail boat at that.

The girl's name is Nami; she is a beautiful young woman with long vibrant orange hair, chocolate brown eyes, well developed feminine curves, and only the age of 20. She was currently wearing a pair of blue jeans that hugged her hips along with a white t-shirt, now completely transparent from the falling rain, and a bikini top underneath. She was raised in the fairly calm waters of East Blue on the archipelago Conomi Islands on the outskirts of Cocoyasi Village. She is a thief and treasure hunter by trade, mainly stealing from low life thugs and common criminals, the small sail boat she was currently occupying was just one of her spoils that she had taken from a violent group of smugglers who masked it as a small fishing boat when in reality they used it to sell opium out of, the smugglers called themselves the Bellamy Pirates, and have now placed a reward on Nami for her actions against them. She doesn't really like her dangerous lifestyle, but circumstances have led her to need a large sum of money and she found thievery to be one of her most valuable skill sets.

She had spent much of her life on the open seas in search of treasure, as well as the next big score, whether it is from taking from pirates, or manipulating a corrupt noble or politician. She knew she should have stolen a better boat then the one she was currently using, maybe something with a motor and a larger sleeping cabin, but she truly loved the sea and was rarely satisfied with anything other than the wind in a sail pushing her to her next destination. She had been gifted from a very young age with a natural talent for cartography and a great ability to read and predict the weather; a skill, along with a natural cunning, that she used to get her this far into the Grandline alone. She had actually never dreamed that she would have to venture this far across the world alone, but an incident two years prior to this day that caused her to lose all of her previous savings directed her to take desperate actions leading to where she is now.

Her stomach growled and her arms strained to keep the rudder on course as the waves violently tossed the small ship about. It had been three days since she had last slept or ate, three long days, and the fatigue and hunger were starting to affect her, but she knew she had to keep pushing forward to Kuraigana, especially if the rumors about the treasure on the island are true. But there was something that did have her worried, the treasure wasn't the only thing rumored to be on the island: it was well known that the island had a very creepy atmosphere to it as fishermen often described it as an island always covered by dark clouds, strange curved mountains and a dense forest, but the appearance isn't the most disturbing part, it is also said to be the home of many super natural creatures. The local legends say that the lord of the island is a vampire that is immune to crosses and proves it by carrying a large one on his back that doubles as a sword. There are rumors of ghosts that float throughout the island whose presence is always made known by a distinctive loud high pitched laugh. There are also stories of a talking skeleton with afro, violent apes that imitate humans at war, and a blonde imp that is said to be drawn mainly to women. But the worst stories are about a dangerous green demon that carries three swords and is known to cut down anything in its path.

But despite all of the crazy things Nami has personally seen in her journeys, including devil fruit users, she does not believe in the super natural, and the risks are well worth the reward. She had spent an entire day doing research about Kuraigana and had discovered that only fifteen years ago that it had been home to the Shikkearu Kingdom; which was a very wealthy kingdom said to rival the wealth of the celestial-dragons themselves, but it had been completely wiped out in a war, and a fortune of gold, silver, jewels, and other valuables were left for the taking. Nami needed this score, with her recent string of bad luck, this had to be the best opportunity to finally turn her life around… it just had to be.

Finally after over two hours of being in the constant onslaught of the storm; she could make out the dark silhouette of Kuraigana. The night had long set and the island was indeed covered with dark clouds making it almost impossible to see any truly defining characteristic of the island. The only thing she could make out was the curved mountains and what could have possibly been a large castle in the distance. She was genuinely happy to have seen a large wooden dock on the shore of the island and directed her small craft to it. Once alongside of it she, she quickly jumped off the vessel and worked to fasten a rope to secure the boat in place, all while fighting the strong waves splashing over the top of the wooden surface she was standing on that were threatening to take her out to the violent sea. Once the boat was secure she quickly headed for dry land with the storm still pouring down on her. She took a moment to turn her attention back to the dock, wondering why it was in such great shape despite the island supposed to have been abandoned of human life for the last fifteen years, but she would not dwell on the matter for long as she could feel a change in the air and knew the storm over head was only going to get worse, she had to find shelter quickly.

She charged up a small hill, now confident that she had seen the silhouette of a building at the top. She found herself in front of a large castle with a very gothic look to it, the castle seemed to almost have a life of its own and sent a chilling sensation up her spine, or was that just the fact that she was soaked to the bone from the cold rain? Building her resolve she pressed on one of the two large wooden doors leading into the front of the castle and made her way inside. Upon entering she immediately took notice of the large grand hallway and was surprised to find that despite there being a thin layer of dust on most of the nearby furniture, the castle seemed to be very clean and organized, not what she would expect from a castle that should have been looted and ravaged by war. Wrapping her arms over her chest to try and fight the shivering of her still cold body, she started to walk and explore the castle. She immediately walked up the grand staircase to the second floor, knowing that there should be worthy valuables in what would have been the former resident's bedrooms. As she turned down one hallway into a separate wing of the castle she noticed a light shining out from underneath a closed doorway. She moved towards the light, like a moth drawn to a flame.

'_There couldn't possibly be someone living here, could there?_' She thought to herself as her hand instinctively grabbed for the door handle into the room. She turned the door handle and pushed her way through. Her eyes widened as she walked into the large well-lit room: it had tall domed ceilings and multiple chandeliers hanging from it. The floor was made of pure marble and there were large stone columns sounding the room to support the heavy ceiling, and there were three sets of double doors that Nami could hear the sounds of the pouring rain falling just outside of them, making her aware that they must have led to a large balcony. She noticed that a large part of the floor seemed to be covered with grass mats, and that there was a lot of metal weights and other training equipment over in a corner of the room. It was once obviously a grand ballroom, but has recently been converted into a dojo or training hall of sorts. But what caught her eye the most in the room was a set of three swords leaning against a wall.

She instinctively started to move towards the swords, particularly one with a white scabbard and hilt; before she knew it, it was in her hands and she was inspecting it. She recognized it, she had first seen it in 'Precious Treasures of the World' magazine over 10 years ago, and if her memory served her correctly, which it always did when money was involved, than it was called the Wado Ichimonji. It was one of the 21 O Wazomono grade swords. It was once held by a beautiful female-swordsman, and 10 years ago it was worth 10,000,000 Beli, but it disappeared without a trace shortly after its previous owner died, the current price for it would be 10x what it was back then. She hit the jackpot, this one sword could be sold for the entire sum of money that she needed, and if something like this was just sitting out it the open, there were undoubtedly hundreds of more treasures around for the taking.

She slowly started to unsheathe it to inspect the blade and make sure there was no visible rusting or damage, and was relieved to find that the blade was spotless. She found herself lost in the marvel and shine of the metal; it was beautiful… so much so that she hadn't noticed a figure walk into the room behind until she saw something green in the reflection of the blade. She tried to turn so that she could meet the figure head on, but it was approaching her in a flash. Before the mikan-head knew it the figure was almost on top of her; she tried to swing the sword wildly to defend herself, but to no avail as she felt a strong hand grab hold of her wrist holding the sword, and another wrap tightly around her throat, before slamming her hard against the wall. She instantly saw spots from her violent impact with the stone wall, and desperately started to struggle to breath from the strong grip cutting off her flow of air, but Nami was a fighter, a woman with a purpose and she wouldn't go willingly. With her one free arm she quickly grabbed for the arm that owned the hand wrapped around her throat, digging her fingernails into the arm, hoping that it would be enough to get the hand to release her. But it was not enough; she barely heard a muffled "Hmph" from the owner of the arm, and the grip only tightened instead.

Her vision was finally able to clear, but only just a little to see the face of her assailant; it appeared to be a man, a man with a scar falling vertically over his left eye, and a very menacing look in his other. She wasn't sure if it was just her vision starting to blur again, but she could swear that his hair was green. His strength was unreal, despite how much she struggled under his grip, it would not falter. She could barely see again at this point, as she started to feel her lungs start to burn from the lack of air going to them, but she could still make out his barred teeth, and could hear a sound emanating from him, it was a growl. '_Holy shit; it's true, there really is a demon._' She began to get desperate as her strength started to fade; she was only left with one final option. "Please" Nami was barely able to beg in a hoarse voice, hoping that there was at least a little bit of reason in the demon before her.

Surprisingly enough, his grip did loosen at the sound of her voice, but only enough for her to suck in a miniscule amount of air. His growl finally stopped in order for him to finally speak "Let it go." His voice was very low, and still threatening and dangerous. He tightened his grip around her throat again, getting a small "squeak" from her in the process.

The mikan-head's mind started to race quickly, trying to figure out what the demon was telling her to do, and that was when she finally realized it; still being held in her right hand was the item that the demon wanted, he wanted the sword. Nami quickly released it, causing it to fall to the hard marble floor with a clatter. Letting go of it had the desired affect that she was hoping it would as the demon quickly released his grip on both her arm and her throat, causing her to fall to the floor in the process, desperately gasping for air. Her hand instinctively went to her throat, hoping by holding it she would relieve some of pain that was left over from the demon's monster like strength. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that he quickly went for the blade that had fallen to the ground; she would have been terrified of him now possessing a weapon if it wasn't for the fact that he seemed more concerned for the safety of the blade then wielding it for malicious intent. '_He really is a demon'_ she thought to herself as she gave him an evil look out of the corner of her eye '_he is more concerned over a damn sword rather than the human life that he almost just killed_.' She would have got up and ran while the demon was distracted, but she still couldn't find the strength as she continued to struggle for air.

Nami watched as the demon finished inspecting the blade and then proceeded to sheath it once satisfied. She took a moment to glance over its form: she was genuinely amazed at how human he looked; he had no scales or discolored skin like she would have thought a demon to have, instead his skin was tan and he was very muscular, if not perfectly sculptured. He wore human clothing as well consisting of a green yukata that the top half was hanging loosely over a red sash tied around his waist, as well a green haramaki that was coving his stomach. She also noticed a very large scar that had been stitched poorly running diagonally across his chest and abdomen, just one more proof that he couldn't be human because no man could have ever survived a wound of that caliber, especially if it wasn't treated properly. She would be lying if she said the demon wasn't attractive, but a demon is still a demon, and she was honestly too terrified to even move at this point; afraid that if she did he would attack her.

She continued to watch as he gathered the other two swords that were leaning against the wall, and along with the Wado Ichimonji, he tucked all three of them into his red sash along his right hip. He then took a couple of steps towards her, before hovering over her with a feral look in his one visible eye. She was frozen in place, undoubtedly becoming pale from the fear that she was beginning to feel from his overwhelming presence. She could feel her heart starting to pound in her chest as she quickly scooted back to the wall, feeling very small sitting there in front of him, hoping that the wall would offer some kind of protection. She felt her mouth go very dry, causing her to gulp down a huge swallow of air as she waited for him to make his move.

"My sword is undamaged" he spoke clearly but still dangerously "and that is the only reason you still live woman. That is… if you can survive the fall." The demon quickly reached for her with both of his arms, pulling her from the ground quickly with great force. Before she realized it she was tucked securely under his left arm like a sack of vegetables, with her arms pinned at her sides unable to do anything. She was faced the same way as him, which she wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing or not because it allowed her to see what was coming next as he started to walk towards the three sets of doors leading to the balcony.

'_Holy crap_' her mind started to race frantically as his intentions were made clear '_he is going to throw me off the balcony. I'm going to die._' Her instincts kicked in and she quickly tried to free herself, violently kicking her feet and trying to wiggle free from his grasp, but the more she struggled, the more the demon increased his hold on her, causing more pressure to be put onto her ribs and making it hard for her to breathe again. She soon realized that she wasn't going to be able to free herself by physical means, but she remembered he did show at least a little reason earlier when it came to getting her to release his sword, after all; he could have just as easily choked the life out of her, and then just took back the sword afterwards, but he didn't, he showed some restraint, maybe there is hope that he would do it again.

"Hold on a minute. Maybe we can talk about it. This is all just a big misunderstanding and you're just overreacting. No reason to do anything rash."

"Oh…" the demon said in an almost mocking tone as he continued towards the balcony "so you didn't break into my home and try and take my sword, and most likely other items? You're just a common thief, nothing more."

"I didn't break in, the door was open." She defended. "And you still have your sword, so I didn't steal it… yet." She mumbled the last word quietly. "I'm just a young woman trying to find shelter from the storm outside; that isn't a reason to kill me."

"We're only on the second floor, plus there are trees to slow the fall, you might not die…" He said flatly continuing his walk towards the doors. "…at least if you can avoid the Humandrills; they'll rip you to shreds."

'_There really are violent apes too_?' She thought to herself as she they got closer to the doors, she could hear the rain even clearer beating against the glass, it was really coming down. Almost like an ominous warning, a huge flash of lightning struck just outside the window, close enough and loud enough to shake the entire castle. Her whole body started to shake. '_Oh shit… oh shit… oh shit… this isn't happening… it isn't happening…_' She was only left with one choice, something that she rarely used and only as a last result; she was just hoping that the part of the demon that was male would at least have those types of desires. "I'll-compensate-you" she blurted out in one breath.

Her words did at least peak the demon's interest as his pace slowed just a little. "With what, unless you're hiding something under what little clothes you're wearing, I doubt you have anything I want." He scoffed at her.

"I'll compensate you with my body…" She told him nervously as his right hand reached for the door knob, but became hopeful when it quit moving and she could feel his gaze on her. She warily took a look at his face, but her hope quickly vanished when she discovered a look of irritation and anger on his face rather than lust.

"I really hope the fall hurts, a lot." He quickly opened the door, immediately causing a cold wind as well as the frigid rain to enter the room and begin to soak them both with the cold water.

The dangerous weather was like a reminder to Nami on just how desperate her situation was becoming. Despite knowing it would do no good, she began to violently thrash around and again tried to wiggle herself free. Knowing that her life was on the line, she was no longer too proud to beg in a true last ditch effort to save herself from her fate. "NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I…" "Growl"…

All movement and words stopped from both parties as a mortified blush took over Nami's face as she just realized that despite all the excitement of being only moments away from her impending doom, it had still been days since her last meal, and her stomach chose now of all times to start complaining. '_Great, not only am I going to die, but I'm going to die hungry. Hopefully this bastard didn't hear that._' She inwardly pouted to herself, hoping that her captor didn't know her shame, but she could tell by the inquisitive look on his face that he at least had suspicions of it. And then her stomach did it again "Growl"

Nami continued to stare at the demon's face in embarrassment, but was honestly taken aback when he let out what she could have sworn was a defeated sigh. The demon abruptly closed the door leading to the balcony, and turned to face the door leading to the hallway. He made no explanation as he continued towards the door with the mikan-head still tucked securely under his arm, and Nami said nothing more either, just feeling somewhat relieved that her life was no longer in immediate danger. She could only stay still and go along for the ride, somewhat curious of what he now had in mind for her.

-0-0-0-0-

Nearly an hour had passed since the two left the ballroom/dojo; the demon had taken the mikan-head on a small tour of the castle as he seemed to be wandering around aimlessly. They first went up to the third and top floor of the building, which was mainly storage rooms, but Nami was able to notice several items with dust on them that might be of some value… if she ever was able to get away from the demon they might be worth going back for. They then traveled down to the ground floor wandering around for several moments until entering a large library. There were books stacked neatly to the ceilings on shelves. The curiosity in Nami wished she had time to go through them all to see if any of them were on cartography, navigation, weather, maybe even romance novels, or her favorites; books on treasure, but not knowing what the demon had in store for her, she wasn't sure if she would ever even get the opportunity.

The fact was Nami was starting to get quite bored in their little walk around the castle, especially considering he had been carrying her the entire time, but the longer he searched for whatever it was he was looking for, the longer she would get to stay alive and possibly come up with a way to escape the demon's grasp.

Finally they began to descend down another flight of stairs leading into the basement of the castle. It was a little cooler and damp down there, but not uncomfortable. They walked into a large wine-cellar that was completely stocked with all types of wine and other alcohols. Nami could really go for a drink right about now, in fact; she even tried to wiggle one of her arms out of his grasp to try and reach out for a bottle as they passed it, but he must have sensed her intentions because he tightened his grip around her momentarily to stop her from doing so. They continued to search the basement before coming face to face with an old looking wooden door with bars on it. Nami gulped as they approached it, she had a feeling that she didn't want to know what was behind that door, and as the demon opened it and stepped into the room… she was right.

The room looked like a typical medieval dungeon: there were sets of chains along the stone walls, a full size torture rack in the middle of the room, different sizes and heights of stockades, and one wall was covered in neatly hung whips, floggers, hand cuffs, mouth gags, and even a gimp mask… That's when the mikan-head realized that it wasn't a dungeon, or even a torture chamber, it was an S & M chamber. "I… I know I said I would compensate you, but this is even too much for me, I'd rather be thrown off the balcony." She admitted with a look of pure horror on her face.

The demon's face quickly flushed red with embarrassment, and he quickly backed out of the room slamming the door shut in the process. His gaze met hers and she was surprised to see the same look or horror on his face that was on hers, for whatever reason, that room scared the hell out of the demon. "Just try… just try to forget you ever saw that room." He told her in a slight stutter.

"How the hell am I supposed to forget that?" She practically yelled at him.

She heard him let out a defeated sigh before he answered her with "Regardless of how hard you try, you honestly can't. It stays with you forever."

Done with their basement tour; they eventually made their way back to the stairs leading to the ground floor, but not before the demon grabbed a bottle of sake from the wine-cellar. She heard him pull the cork off with his teeth and take a hard swig from the bottle. A small pout fell over Nami's face because she felt like he was drinking just to spite her, but he let up his grip just a little with his left arm before putting the bottle in front of her face; she hesitantly wiggled one arm free and reached for the bottle, surprised that he let her take hold of it. She wasn't sure what had changed so suddenly, but the heavy atmosphere between her and the demon almost seemed to completely disappear instantly as she gratefully took a swig from the bottle before passing it back to him. Once the bottle was back in his hand, he made his way for the stairs and tightened his grip around her waist before attempting to ascend them.

She took notice of this action because it wasn't the first time he tightened his grip around her while they approached a flight of stairs, he had actually done it for every set. The thing was that it didn't really feel like he was doing it out of worry that she would escape, but more like out of worry that he would lose his grip. '_Is there actually a caring part to this guy?_' She questioned inwardly.

Once completely up the stairs and several feet from them; he paused again to take another drink before handing her the bottle. She accepted with ease and took a drink herself. They fell into a small pattern of doing so, until she noticed he was heading back towards the library. "You're lost aren't you?" She finally asked him, feeling less and less afraid of him the more they continued on their little tour. "Do you even really live here?"

"Of course I live here, and I'm not lost." He spat at her defensively. "It's just they are always remolding this damn place without telling me."

"Uh huh…" The mikan-head said sarcastically, she was honestly curious to know about who he was referring to, but at the same time didn't want to get into too much detail about the demon's life, after all; she would be gone the first chance she got. But seeing how letting him continue to wander aimlessly around was getting them nowhere, she decided to at least try and point him in the right direction. "We haven't gone that way yet." She pointed out with her free arm.

The demon swordsman started to move that way without complaint, almost as if he was used to being told which direction to walk. They finally came to a set of double doors that he pushed one of them open with his free hand before walking into a grand dining room. In front of them sat a large dining table at least 10 meters long, but only had four chairs around it. There was another set of double doors at the back of the room that Nami could tell led to a court yard or sorts, as well as a single door at the side that she assumed must have led to a kitchen. "See; I told you I wasn't lost." The demon said in a triumphed voice.

"Yeah… yeah…" She told him mockingly. "So what the hell are we doing here anyway?"

"Hmph" he sounded off, slightly irritated because of her cocky attitude. "You'll see woman."

He then walked them towards the single door at the side of the room before pushing it open and flipping on a light switch to reveal that is was indeed a kitchen. Unlike the rest of the rooms which had an old and outdated feeling to them, a thin layer of dust on most of the furniture, or cobwebs hanging from the corners of the ceilings, this room was very modern with only the best new cooking equipment on the market. It was completely spotless and organized, and could rival the kitchen of even five-star restaurants, except for a lone ashtray sitting in the middle of a medium size round wooden table with a few cigarette butts sitting in the bottom of the tray.

The demon walked over to the table, and then finally lowered the mikan-head to her feet. "Sit" he commanded her while pointing at one of the two chairs surrounding the table. She looked at him skeptically at first, but only got a stern glare from him, before finally taking her seat. She watched as he walked over to the perfectly clean double door fridge and reached inside of it. The demon then began to pull out several items from the fridge: sliced cheese, mustard, mayonnaise, some lettuce and other miscellaneous vegetables, and a blood red container with a lid on it. He piled them all on a nearby counter, before crossing the room and reaching for a large knife hanging on the wall.

Nami's eyes started to wander around the room when she noticed a large hook hanging from the ceiling that could easily hold a large animal, and a drain underneath it. She watched as the demon swordsman inspected the knife, running one of his fingers across the blade to check how sharp it was. Her mind started to race a mile a minute as thoughts of her being hung upside down from the hook only to be butchered and eaten by the demonic figure in front of her. She quickly scanned the room again, but this time for the exit. Maybe she could make a run for it. She slowly started to lift herself off the chair, but was stopped by the sound of his voice. "I told you to sit." He was watching her in the reflection of the blade. She found herself gulping down a big swallow of air as she lowered herself back down into the chair. Her breathing started to increase rapidly as he walked back over to the counter he had left his ingredients on and began to cut the vegetables in little pieces. "Mustard or mayonnaise?" He asked her without turning around to meet her gaze.

"Oh come on…" She said in a pleading voice. "It's bad enough you're making me sit here and watch you, now you're going to make me choose what dressing you use." The demon turned around to look at her with a confused look on his face. "How cruel can you be? I know I'm beautiful, but I assure you that I won't taste good at all, so please don't eat me…"

"What the hell are you talking about?" The demon swordsman screamed at her with a look of pure shock on his face. "I'm not going to eat you, you crazy witch. I'm making you something to eat."

"You're not going to eat me?" She asked sheepishly.

"Why in the hell would I eat you?"

"Well… I thought demons ate people."

"I'm not a demon you baka. I'm a man." He glared at her sternly; offended by her accusation. "Now do you want mustard or mayonnaise?" He barked out at her.

"Mustard" she answered while blushing heavily after the realization that she had been letting her over active mind get the better of her. She continued to watch him pull a loaf of bread from a nearby cupboard and proceed to slice some pieces off of it and continue to make several sandwiches. Her stomach started to growl fiercely now at the prospect of food. She watched as he opened the blood-red container and started to pile meat onto the pieces of bread, she found herself licking her lips in anticipation. Finally the demon… no; the swordsman walked over to the table with a plate full of sandwiches before moving the ashtray and placing it in the middle of the table.

She looked at the plate skeptically, not sure is she should just help herself. Realizing her restraint he gave her the go ahead "Well… go on." He told her with a nod of his head.

Nami quickly reached for a sandwich, ferociously tearing into it, she heard the swordsman chuckle at her actions, before he turned around to grab a couple bags of potato chips from another nearby cupboard and another bottle of alcohol from the fridge, returning to the table and grabbing a sandwich himself. The two sat there for several moments, neither saying a word to the other, only eating and sharing the bottle of alcohol like it was a normal interaction. But something still bothered the mikan-head, and she couldn't continue to ignore it. "You know I'm not going to have sex with you right?" She asked in-between bites, not really caring about any type of table manners.

The man nearly choked on his food from her sudden and abrupt question. "You're the only one who has even brought up sex witch!" He spat at her, embarrassed by the subject.

He had a point there, but the fact is she never intended on going through with her proposed compensation, regardless of how attractive he was. "Well if you're not feeding me to have sex with me, why are you feeding me?"

"Because you were hungry" He answered her simply.

"Well yeah… but you still had no reason to. I was planning on stealing from you. You know that right?" She admitted with a slightly ashamed look on her face, feeling guilty because of the kindness he was now showing her.

"Yeah I know" The swordsman confirmed. "But if the damn cook found out that I sent someone away hungry, he would never let me hear the end of it."

"You have a cook. Where is he?" Nami would never admit it out loud, but she was actually starting to enjoy the conversation she was having with the man in front of her, it had been quite some time since she had been able to be so casual with someone, even if he was a stranger that she thought had been planning on doing harm to her only a short time ago.

"He's not my cook" He answered almost defensively "He is just "the cook", and he's off on like his 16th or 17th honeymoon with my sister, or something like that."

"So you have a sister. Than you don't live here alone do you." She stated more than asked, only getting a nod from him in response. Nami decided to quit asking questions; despite how much she was enjoying their conversation, she didn't want to pry too deep, she still had every intention of leaving the first chance she got… the only problem was the storm raging outside didn't seem to be letting up anytime soon and the fatigue was starting to get the better of her as she felt her eyes starting to get heavy.

"How long has it been since you slept?" His voice broke their current silence. She didn't answer, she only looked down to the now empty plate where the food had been. This man that she didn't even know had already done more for her than anyone else had done in a long time, there was no way she could ask for more… but she didn't need to. "You'll stay here tonight. There are plenty of guestrooms and the storms usually last all night, it will clear by morning, so it will give you some time to get some sleep before you decide to sneak off." Her eyes widened at his words. He had known the entire time that she planned on sneaking off the first chance she got, but he didn't seem to be mad about it at all. "Just don't steal anything on your way out." She could only nod to answer as a genuine smile crossed her face.

-0-0-0-0-

After finishing their makeshift meal and cleaning up. They proceeded to the second floor, with Nami leading the way, to the living quarters. They first stopped by a large room that acted as a walk-in-closet to get Nami something dry to sleep in, before proceeding to the room that she would be staying in. The swordsman gave her some privacy in the room while she changed into the oversized t-shirt with a skull wearing a crown* on it that she had picked out from the closet, and a pair of olive-green gym-shorts that she assumed belonged to the swordsman, it wasn't the best or most fashionable choice of clothing, but it was dry and would work to sleep in. Once finished changing she stepped back out into the hallway to hand her host the pile of her wet clothes which he promised her he would wash for her before he walked off to somewhere in the interior of the castle, despite having only met him only a few hours ago, she was already aware of his terrible sense of direction and wondered if she should go with him to show him the way, but she no longer had the energy; she would just have to leave him to find his own way.

After returning to the inside of the room, Nami took a quick moment to look around it. Though large, the room was nothing special, and it only had the bare necessities of furniture inside of it: A small dresser with a mirror and a sitting stool in front of it, a single reading chair next to an end table, and a queen sized bed with clean sheets on it. Despite none of it being special, the sight of the bed nearly brought tears of happiness to Nami's eyes, it had been 3 days since she had last slept, and probably months since it was actually in a bed. She hadn't even realized she had crossed the room until she found herself falling on top of the mattress; she couldn't help but wonder whether it was the most comfortable bed she had ever lain on or not. She felt so happy and content at that moment, but at the same time sad and disappointed… because she knew that she wouldn't be able to stay for long, and that the man's kindness would only be for one night, a man that she had just now realized that she didn't even know his name, but it was better that way, because she would be gone first thing in the morning. But the least she could do is enjoy the happiness for at least a few hours, and allow herself to get just a little sleep.

The very moment the mikan-head finally closed her eyes, she drifted off into a comfortable slumber.

**End Chapter 1**

*I think you can all guess whose shirt Nami is wearing, if you can't here is a hint: Thriller Bark.

So… what did you all think so far?

Just a fair warning: I'm still really busy right now so this is a project that may take some time to complete, and even though the rating is T right now, it may go up to M depending if I decide to put Lemons in it or not.

As always; thanks for taking the time to read and please review ;}


	2. Chapter 2

Alright! First thing is first: I'd like to give a very special shout-out to BelleLoveZoro for being so sweet to make me a cover pick for this story (she was also sweet enough to make the cover pic for "Dance The Night Away" if you haven't recognized her work). If you want to check out the picture in its complete form, check her out on DevaintArt ;}

And nope… I still don't own One Piece

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**Taking in a Stray Cat: Chapter 2**

As Nami started to stir from her slumber, her body immediately started to complain and she instinctively wrapped herself in the sheets like a caterpillar in a cocoon, not wanting to leave the comfort of the bed. She was slightly confused about what had transpired to put her in that warm comfortable bed and was desperately trying to let her mind begin the process of piecing together what she had done the night before: she remembered successfully docking her small boat at Kuraigana Island before being led on a tour of the castle by a green-haired demon… no that wasn't quite right; he ended up not being a demon at all and just a man, a directionally challenged man, but a man none the less. She remembered how he would get flustered or even embarrassed at the mention of sex, which she had brought up in a last ditch effort to save her life, she would never admit it to the man, but he was cute when he blushed. Nami sat there and continued to recount the previous night's events, as well as the man's kindness to her despite expecting nothing in return; simply feeding her because she was hungry, giving her some dry clothes and a place to sleep simply because she was tired, she would be dishonest if she denied that it warmed her heart.

The mikan-head finally started to open her eyes warily, trying to let her eyes adjust as rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds into the west window of the room… '_SHIT_' Nami cursed in her mind as she sprung from the bed, throwing the covers completely off of her as she realized that the sun was already on the west side of the castle, making her very aware that she had overslept well into the afternoon '_You're a damn baka Nami'_ she continued to scold herself as she desperately searched the room for her clothes, only to remember that the swordsman had took them to go and wash them for her. '_You were supposed to only sleep for a couple of hours and then get the hell out of here. Now what the hell are you going to do if you run into that guy?_'

She slowly cracked the door open, peering out into the hallway, practically praying to see no sight of the swordsman, and was quite relieved to see the hallway vacant and empty. She slowly stepped out of the room and into the hallway to make her way to the grand staircase that would lead her to the ground floor so she could search for her clothes. But before making it to the stairs she passed across a door right at the end of the hallway and noticed a sign on it that she hadn't noticed the night before; it read **'This One is Your Room You Shitty Marimo'** in big bold red letters, almost impossible to miss, Nami chalked up her missing it to her extreme fatigue the previous night. '_Marimo…_' she contemplated the word to herself as she pictured a moss-ball '_his hair really does make him look kind of like one._' A small smile crossed her face at the thought '_I might have to tease him with that one later…_' she shook her head violently at that last thought, as if she was trying to toss the actual thought out her head. '_What am I thinking about? I can't use it to tease him later, because I'm not staying, I need to find my clothes and get out of here._'

She became very silent and held her breath as she crept by the room, hoping that if he was inside that he wouldn't hear her, she was halfway passed the door when she heard a sound coming from the other side, causing her to completely pause in the process… "Snore…" She let out the breath she was holding once she realized what the sound was, because as loud as the man inside of the room was snoring, he was obvious still in deep sleep. Feeling confident, she decided that she could continue her search with less restraint. She quickly made her way down the stairs, not worrying about the sound she was making because she was still barefoot with her sandals in her hand which eliminated any echoing from the souls of the sandals. Once at the bottom of the stairs, she paused for a moment to figure out what area the laundry room would be in, coming to the conclusion that it must have been near the kitchen because that was the only area the swordsman didn't thoroughly explore the previous evening in his search for the kitchen. But before she started to make her way towards her destination, she was stopped by the sound of voices coming from outside of the main doors.

"Allow me to get the door for you my love…" Nami heard in a high pitched, sing-songy, male voice.

"How are you going to get the door for me?" The second voice was also high pitched, but not sing-songy, and obviously female. "Your hands are full because you're carrying all my bags."

"I will open it with my face if I have to, just so my precious Perona-frawn* doesn't have to sully her beautiful hands."

"Horo-horo-horo… Just let me get the door baka."

The voices were now just on the outside of the doors, and Nami noticed that one of the doors started to push open. She began to get nervous and quickly looked around for an escape. She quickly turned around to head back up the stairs, but in her panic she didn't raise her foot high enough and stubbed her big-bare-toe on the first step. She immediately dropped her sandals to the floor and almost screamed out in pain as tears welled in her eyes. She quickly lifted her foot into her hands and jumped around on one leg to try and distract herself from the sharp pain shooting all the way through her foot and leg…

"Who the hell are you?" A confused female voice called out from the now open doorway, causing Nami to completely freeze in her actions.

Nami turned her head to meet two sets of curious eyes in the entryway: one belonging to a pink-haired woman in gothic style clothing, and the other a well-dressed blond man with his hair covering his right-eye and a strange swirled eye-brow over his other.

"It is a beautiful lady." The man said as he struggled to keep several luggage bags securely in place under his arms. "Who is this beautiful angel standing in front of us Perona-frawn?" His eye turned into a heart and his legs started to turn into noodles as she started to dance slightly just inside of the threshold. Nami would have been kind of impressed about his ability to do so with so many bags under his arms if not for the fact that it was starting to freak her out.

"I already asked that question baka!" The pink-haired woman screamed at the man, obviously irritated that he had ignored her original question because he was distracted by the other woman in front of him. "So who the hell are you, and why the hell are you wearing one of my shirts?" The Goth angrily spat at Nami while pointing an accusing finger at her.

Nami finally let her foot back to the ground now that all the confusion had made her forget about the pain in her stubbed toe. She desperately looked for words to explain who she was and why she was in the castle that the two in front of her obviously called home… but no words would come. She could tell that the woman in front of her was becoming enraged by her silence, but she still fought to find the proper words. But finally the pinkette could take the silence no more.

"Oh screw this" The other woman finally said "NEGATIVE HOLLOW!"

Nami could only stare, frozen in shock, as a semi-transparent ghost with a big goofy smile and its tongue hanging out flew out from the Goth's body towards her while laughing in an annoying high pitch. It flew through the mikan-head's body, and Nami instantly felt all energy, all will to stand, even all will to live leave her body in a moment. "I am just a weed choking the life out of a mikan-tree and should be pulled." She said in a downcast voice as her entire body slumped to the ground.

"Perona-fawn, please calm down." The blond man said to the pinkette. "There may be a reasonable explanation of why this lovely lady is in our home."

"Shut up Sanji. You defending her is not cute at all. There is only one way to get to the bottom of this…" The woman who Nami now knew to go by the name of Perona took a deep breath before screaming out "Roronoa Zoro! You get your lazy un-cute ass down here this minute!"

As Nami looked up at Perona from the ground, still recovering from whatever that ghost-thing had done to her, her eyes widened in honest surprise, but her surprise wasn't from Perona's strange power to conjure ghosts, but from the Goth's words instead. '_Did she just say Roronoa Zoro?_' Nami knew the name; she had heard it several times while traveling around East Blue looking for treasure to find or steal. '_That's impossible; it can't be the same guy. What the hell would he be doing here of all places?_'

An awkward silence fell over the group on the main floor as some noises that sounded like someone groaning and slight sounds of movements could be heard from the living quarters. They heard a door crack open, but before a human figure could even be seen; Perona started to scream out directions instinctively.

"Turn left towards the stairs!" The three at the bottom of the stairs could hear some muffled grumbles from the intended recipient, but then only heard footsteps getting further away. "YOUR OTHER LEFT!"

Nami finally started to regain some of the strength she lost from the ghost passing through her and she noticed the pinkette bringing her hand to the bridge of her nose to massage the area, obviously unsatisfied at the swordsman's horrible sense of direction. Nami hoped to use the disruption to sneak off, but was spotted by Perona before she could do so.

"And where the hell do you think you are going?" Perona questioned the mikan-head, quickly stalking over to her and seizing Nami by the ear before she could run off.

"OWWW!" Nami screamed in obvious discomfort.

"Perona my love; I don't want to upset you, but you might be overreacting a little bit. Maybe we should give her a chance to explain herself." Sanji spoke, obviously feeling concerned for the mikan-head's physical wellbeing, but only got a stern look from Perona instead, causing him to become instantly silent as he went to put the bags under his arms down nearby.

"I gave her the chance to explain, and she didn't take it. We'll see what Zoro has to say."

The after mentioned swordsman could finally be seen at the top of the stairs; stretching out his joints and letting out a big yawn before starting to walk down them. "What are you being so loud about so early in the morning Perona?"

"It's already passed noon you lazy, worthless, brother?" Perona quickly spat at him. "Now who in the hell is this?" She asked pointing her free hand at the woman she currently had a hold of by the mikan-head's ear.

Zoro looked at Nami, and then Perona, then to Sanji, and then back to Nami: he noticed a scared look in Nami's eyes, obviously hoping that he could defuse the situation, but Zoro only had a confused look on his face instead. "Ummm… That's a thief." He responded flatly while scratching the back of his head, causing Nami, Perona, and Sanji to all deadpan.

But being fueled by rage; Perona was the first to recover. "Why the hell is there a thief in our home, and why is she wearing my clothes?" Perona tightened her grip on Nami's ear, causing her to nearly drop to her knees from the simple yet sharp pain.

"She is only wearing one of your shirts; she's got my shorts on. Now will you let her go? You're going to rip her ear off at this rate."

"You're not answering the question you baka!" Despite Perona's anger not seeming to disappear, but only increase, she did let go of Nami's ear, but only to point her now free hand at Zoro before… "Negative Hollow!"

Another ghost quickly left Perona's body and ran straight through the swordsman's. He quickly slumped to the ground before saying "I wish I was an insect so someone could step on me."

"BAHAHAHA!" Sanji roared out from his leaning position on the wall. "I'll step on you if you want shitty-swordsman."

"Shut your mouth ero-cook!" Zoro screamed at the blonde man after quickly recovering from Perona's attack. "And dammit Perona: I've told you to not do after I just wake up!"

"Horo-horo-horo..! It serves you right. Now will someone answer my question on who the hell this girl is and why is she here, in my shirt?"

"My… my name is Nami." The mikan-head finally spoke sheepishly drawing everyone's attention to her. "And this is really just a big misunderstanding. Zoro…" She spoke his name, unsure if she should even use it. "…was just being kind to me last night."

All eyes turned to Zoro, expecting him to continue the explanation. He let out a defeated sigh before doing so. "I was weight training last night and had to go to the bathroom, when I got back to the ballroom I caught her snooping around. It was pouring last night and she was soaking wet, so I let her borrow some dry clothes to sleep in."

"But why in the hell would you let a thief sleep here in the first place?" Perona asked, still irritated and confused by everything. "Why didn't you toss her out?"

"Well I almost did toss her out over the balcony but…"

"You were going to do what, you damn barbarian?" Sanji spat furiously after hearing Zoro's admission. "How dare you even think of doing harm to this lovely lady?"

"Did you forget about the part where she was a thief, you swirly eye-browed bastard? Now shut the hell up and let me finish." Zoro quickly spat back at him. "As I was saying: right before I was going to toss her over the balcony I heard her stomach growl and noticed she looked tired and hungry, so I gave her something to eat and a place to sleep for the night. I thought she'd be gone first thing this morning, and she promised not to steal anything, so I didn't see the harm in it." He finished saying nonchalantly while scratching the back of his head.

Perona was about to yell angrily at her brother because she was still irritated at how irresponsible it was to knowingly let a thief into their home, but was interrupted by Sanji's calm voice. "Perona-fawn, my sweet, you know how much I despise your idiotic brother most of the time, right?" He began saying, getting a "Tch" from Zoro in response. "But for once I have to agree that he did the right thing. A person should never have to go hungry if it can be avoided." Sanji's calm voice and reassurance was enough to start to calm down the pinkette, because the blonde man was right… "Especially not such a beautiful lady!" … and her anger was back as she watched his eye transform into a heart and his legs start to wiggle around like soft noodles again.

"Negative hollow" She spoke coldly as yet another ghost left her body and headed straight for the blonde man, stopping his noodle dance instantly.

"I am a lonely grain of rice just waiting to be eaten by a bird." Sanji said with a dark cloud hanging over his head as he fell to the ground on all fours.

"Serves you right you love sick retard." Zoro mumbled under his breath, but showed no signs of amusement at the blonde-man's humiliation.

Perona brought her hands up to both of her temples to rub them before letting out a large sigh. "Ok, I get it" she began to say, irritation still clear in her voice. "You were just doing a good thing. It's obvious that you just spent a little too much time with those goodie-goods. So when is she leaving?"

"I was just looking for my clothes, and then I was going to leave as soon as I got changed, I promise." Nami answered Perona in Zoro's stead, hoping it would reassure the pinkette. "I really didn't want to be a bother to anyone."

"But you can't leave yet." Sanji whined to the mikan-head as he quickly jumped up from slumped over position. "We've only just met. I can already feel that we have something special and that I was destined to meet you."

"Oi, you're married to me baka!" Perona screamed at the blonde man.

"And my heart still belongs only to you my beautiful Perona-frawn!" Sanji exclaimed excitedly as his eye transformed into a heart yet again.

"And every other woman on this planet…" Zoro mumbled under his breath, and got a knowing nod from the pinkette in agreement.

"But if you must leave us Nami-san; at least allow me to cook you something before you go. I would hate if the last meal you ate before leaving was something the shitty-cyclops made for you, I'm sure it was barely edible at best."

Nami quickly looked to both Zoro and Perona who were watching with annoyed looks on their faces because of Sanji's behavior. She didn't know whether to refuse his offer of another meal or not; she didn't want to be rude, or want to be a burden on her hosts anymore either.

"He's too much of a baka to accept no for an answer." Zoro spoke up after noticing the conflicted look on Nami's face. "You better just accept the damn ero-cook's offer and let him make you something before he starts trying to hump your leg or something, besides; I'm getting hungry myself."

"Are you comparing me to a dog marimo?" Sanji spat at him and quickly stalked over to the swordsman as if to start a fight.

"Only if the dog was a perverted imp swirly..!" Zoro quickly retorted matching the cook's aggression.

The two were just about to go to blows when suddenly… "Will you two knock it off?!" Nami screamed at the top of her lungs before unleashing a fist to the top of both of their heads. "The two of you have been bickering non-stop since you first laid eyes on each other! What is wrong with you guys?!" Nami hadn't even realized her outburst until she noticed both men lying on the ground at her feet. She didn't know why, but if just felt so natural to lash out at the two.

As the two men started to regain their senses, she noticed the swordsman giving her a rather dangerous look, while Sanji was mumbling something about "Nami-san is beautiful when she is angry", while he wiggled around still on the floor. Part of Nami wanted to shrink down and hide when Zoro stood completely up and approached her, to stand over her and glare at her… but she didn't shrink down, instead she placed both of her hands firmly on her hips, straightened her back, and matched his glare with one of her own. It was actually starting to get a little tense until…

"Horo-horo-horo, I'm starting to like this girl." The ghost-princess declared, grabbing both her brother's and the mikan-head's attentions. "So are you staying for lunch or not… Nami wasn't it?"

Nami took a quick glance at Zoro, getting a quick "Hmph" from him before he turned around and went to lean against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, but if she didn't know any better, she could have sworn she noticed a smirk across his face before he had turned. "I don't really want to be any more trouble to any of you." She answered Perona.

"It is no trouble at all Nami-san." Sanji cooed excitedly as he quickly hopped up from where he had been still lying on the floor. "It would be an honor to cook for lovely angels such as yourself and Perona-fawn."

Nami looked around her: first to Perona who just smiled at Sanji's actions, and then to Zoro who gave her a nod to confirm that she should accept the offer, and then back to Sanji to see a hopeful smile on his face. '_Who the hell are these people? How can they be so laid back about all of this?_' She thought to herself before letting out an amused yet slightly awkward light-laugh, and then answering "Sure; lunch sounds great Sanji-kun."

"Hai Nami-ssswwwaaannn! I will prepare it right away!" The chef exclaimed excitedly in a high pitch voice before darting off towards the kitchen, causing a muffled "Hmph" from Zoro and another "Horo-horo-horo" from Perona.

-0-0-0-0-

After Nami confirmed that she would stay for lunch; Perona led her to the laundry room so she could get her clothes and change out of the ones she had borrowed. Nami's suspicions about where the location of the laundry room were confirmed, because it was indeed down the same hallway that the dining room and the kitchen were, but despite it still being a little ways away from the kitchen, she could still hear the two men yelling back and forth from the confines of it.

The mikan-head's curiosity was getting the better of her as she continued to change her clothes and she was trying to listen in on the two men's arguments. They seemed completely random: from Sanji complaining about "How many damn bottles are you going to drink you shitty-marimo" and "stay the hell out of that, it is for Perona-fawn and Nami-san!" And Zoro would respond with colorful comments like "If you weren't so damn annoying than I wouldn't need to drink so much" and "I'll eat whatever the hell I want to you freaking sissy ero-cook!" Their arguments would then always be followed by sounds of metal clanging on something and then followed by more curses.

"What is wrong with those two?" Nami questioned aloud to no one in particular while shaking her head back and forth in disbelief.

"Horo-horo-horo" Perona let out, taking a break from folding a pile of nearby clothes. "Don't mind that; that is how those two communicate. It can be troublesome at times, but they also have their moments."

"Like what kind of moments?" Nami asked the pinkette genuinely intrigued.

"Well…" Perona paused as she thought about it. "It's hard to explain, but at times they have these strange moments where they seem to have a complete understanding of one another. It is like a silent respect thing where neither would out right admit it, but they show it without words… but only for a moment and then they are right back at it."

And almost on cue the arguing which had seemed to stop while Perona and Nami were talking, started right back up again. "Get off your lazy ass and go tell the ladies that the food is ready you useless marimo!"

"Go tell them yourself shit-cook, or do you need a moment to put on your makeup?"

"If you don't go get them, then you're not eating, now go!" Nami could already imagine the look on the swordsman's face, and the angry curses he was no doubt now mumbling. "And knock before you enter and don't just go barging in you baka!"

"I get it, now shut the hell up!" The mikan-head could hear Zoro's voice now in the hallway instead of the kitchen. Both Perona and she became very quiet as they waited for him to approach the laundry room, but noticed the echo of his boots starting to go the opposite direction. Nami looked to the pinkette and they both shared a light laugh at the realization that the swordsman was already going the wrong way.

Nami stepped out into the hallway and spoke to grab the man's attention. "Oi, are you looking for something?"

Zoro turned around to meet Nami's gaze as she leaned against the doorway to the laundry room with a smirk on her face. She noticed he had a confused look written across his own face from her being the opposite direction than he was walking towards. "What are you doing over there? Weren't you supposed to be in the laundry room with Perona?"

Nami deadpanned slightly from his question before answering, "This is the laundry room", pointing a thumb over her shoulder. "You're really horrible with directions aren't you?" She asked, but only got a "Tch" from him in response.

"Horo-horo-horo" Perona laughed coming out of the laundry room behind Nami. "This girl already has you figured out. Come along baka" the pinkette said to Zoro as she passed Nami and started to walk towards the dining room "Let's go eat."

The swordsman mumbled something inaudible as he followed step directly behind Perona, with Nami soon to follow. As the mikan-head walked into the dining room she was met with the site of Sanji standing nearby the large dining table and a cart with several covered dishes sitting on it. As she approached the table she watched the cook quickly pull out Perona's chair for her in a gentleman like fashion, while Zoro just sat down on the opposite side of the table from her. Once Sanji had Perona properly seated he directed his attention onto Nami. "Here you are Nami-san." Sanji spoke directing her attention to the seat directly besides Perona.

"Thank you Sanji-kun." Nami responded kindly as she took her seat which was directly across from Zoro. Her eyes met the swordsman's, but only for a moment before he directed his one good eye on a bottle of alcohol on the table. She couldn't remove her eyes off of his actions: she watched as he quickly pulled the cork from the bottle with his teeth and spit it into an empty glass in front of him, receiving a "Show some damn manners and don't spit in front of the ladies you brute!" from Sanji who was busy placing a large salad bowl in the middle of the table as well as a plate of fresh breadsticks. "And use a damn glass."

"I did use a glass" He responded smugly. "Can't you see the cork in there?"

"You know I didn't mean for the cork you rude bastard." Sanji spoke coldly getting only a cocky "Hmph" from the swordsman in response before he quickly took a large drink directly from the mouth of the bottle. "I apologize for you having to witness this brute's behavior Nami-san. Perona-fawn and I are used to it, but it should still never be put on display in front of a lady." Nami didn't respond to the cook, she could only continue to stare at the man in front of her in interest. "Nami-san, are you listening?" Sanji asked her after noticing she was distracted, drawing both Perona's and Zoro's attention onto her.

"Uh…" she tried to speak realizing all eyes were on her, and she quickly rewound the words Sanji had said to her. "It's fine Sanji-kun; I didn't even notice him there." She lied.

Satisfied with her answer Sanji continued to set out the food he had prepared, and Nami's attention had immediately went back to the man across from her, but this time Zoro's attention was firmly locked onto her as well. Part of her wanted to shrink from his piercing gaze, but she didn't, instead she continued to meet it, and watch intently as he brought the bottle back to his mouth and take a drink without removing his eyes from hers. There was genuine curiosity in his gaze, as if he was still trying to figure her out. Finally his curiosity got the best of him and he addressed her "What are you staring at witch?" He asked her flatly after removing the bottle from his mouth. "You want a drink or something?" He outstretched the bottle towards her, seeing if she was expecting to repeat their routine from last night.

Sanji almost immediately scolded Zoro for calling her a witch, as well as offering her a bottle that the swordsman's mouth had been on… but quickly stopped when he noticed Nami reach out for the bottle. "Yeah…" she said with a sly smirk on her face as took the bottle from his hands "thanks for the offer, marimo."

Both Perona and Sanji burst into laughter from hearing Sanji's favorite insult come out of Nami's mouth, but Zoro wasn't amused. "Dammit, who the hell are you calling marimo, you witch?"

Nami didn't respond to his outburst with words; she simply winked at him as she took a swig from the bottle herself and placed it back in the middle of the table. Finally her eyes left the man across from her and traveled to the covered plate that Sanji was placing in front of her. "Here you are mademoiselle" the cook spoke softly as he lifted the lid off the plate. "Your lunch is served."

Nami was in genuine awe at the spread in front of her: besides the salad and fresh breadsticks that she had already seen, Sanji had also prepared a delicious looking Chicken-Pasta-Alfredo with perfectly creamy white sauce covering the dish, yet not smothering the food. It was also accompanied by a light chicken broth soup perfect for dipping the breadsticks in, definitely a far stretch from the simple sandwiches and junk food that Zoro had served her the night before. "This all looks amazing Sanji-kun." She said honestly to the man as she watched him sit down across from Perona and beside Zoro to join them.

"If you think it looks amazing, just wait until you taste it, his food is to die for." Perona told the mikan-head with confidence.

"Such kind words from two lovely angels make me feel as though I am truly in heaven." Sanji chirped happily from the sound of the two women's praise, before getting a "Tch" from the man beside him in between bites of food. "And then I am reminded that this isn't heaven by having to look at your ugly mug marimo… and how dare you begin eating before the ladies?!"

Zoro shoved a big mouthful of food into his mouth before turning towards Sanji and saying "Eh…" knowing full well that it would only enrage the cook more.

"Don't talk with your mouth full bastard!"

As the two started to argue; Nami took the opportunity to taste the food in front of her. Her eyes widened in surprise as her taste-buds went into overload. She had never tasted food with as much flavor. She quickly took another bite to make sure her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. "It's delicious isn't it?" Perona asked her, getting an enthusiastic nod from the mikan-head in response. "Try the breadsticks and the broth." Nami did as was suggested, quickly grabbing a breadstick and dipping it into the chicken broth before taking a bite. Her mouth went into an instant face splitting smile as she savored the taste of her meal.

"Sanji-kun, this food is incredible." She spoke after a quick swallow, causing the two men to completely halt in their argument. "It could be served in a five-star restaurant."

"I'm so glad you like it Nami-swan!" He exclaimed happily with his one visible eye transforming into a heart.

Nami heard Perona give a light chuckle besides her, causing her to direct her attention towards the pinkette. "It is served in a five-star restaurant. Sanji is the owner and main chef at the Grand Baratie."

Nami's mouth gaped at Perona's words; despite being relatively new to the Grandline, even Nami had heard of the famous Grand Baratie: a recently opened luxurious floating restaurant that moved between a few different islands of the Grandline, in fact; now that she thought about it, it was said to float just a little north of Kuraigana Island in some of the calmer waters. The reason she knew of it was because of its older sister restaurant in the East Blue known simply as the Baratie. The Grand Baratie was supposed to be nearly triple the size of its older sister and valued at over 3 billion Beli. It was said that you had to book a reservation 6 months in advance to even hope to get a table there.

"You own the Grand Baratie?" She spoke in pure shock to the cook. "I've always wanted to try and eat there at least once in my life, but…" She paused as she thought about her circumstances, she had something more pressing to do than to go to a fancy restaurant.

"It would be my pleasure to take you there Nami-swan. I would make sure you had the best table in the house, and only ate the finest food and had the best wine." The cook started to explain excitedly. "You would get only the best service and…"

"Oi…" Zoro spoke up, interrupting Sanji's promises. "Did you forget about the part where she was leaving?" Zoro's words caused the cook to instantly slump into his chair and fall silent with depression.

Nami looked across the table at the swordsman, trying to figure out if that was his way of saying that he wanted her gone, or if he was able to read her concerns. There was no anger in the man's voice, or malice in his eye, he had said it because it needed to be said. And Nami was actually grateful for it; she couldn't have fantasies about fine dining, and despite how much fun she was having with these people, she was going to have to leave soon, all of the diners fell into an awkward silence for a few moments as they continued to eat their food. All of the food on the table was almost completely gone when Perona decided to break the silence.

"Speaking of you leaving…" The pinkette started to say. "There has been something bothering me for a little while. How did you even get here?"

Nami was slightly confused at the question, she thought that it would be obvious. "I sailed here last night." She answered matter of fact like. "I docked the boat on that wooden dock next to the path leading to the castle. Didn't you guys dock there too? You should have seen it."

Both Perona and Sanji cringed at Nami's answer. They looked at each other with a hint of worry in both of their faces. "I was afraid you'd say that." Perona spoke softly.

Nami could feel that bed news was coming, and looked across the table to the two men for further explanation. "I'm so sorry Nami-san. The waves get bad on that side of the island, and if the boat isn't big enough and doesn't have its own anchor; the waves will normally take it back out to sea or smash it against the shore."

The mikan-head stared at the cook for a moment with a blank look on her face as she processed the information he had just told her, and then suddenly it clicked "WWWWHHHHAAATTT!"

-0-0-0-0-

Zoro, Sanji, and Perona all stood just a little up the path down to the dock. They watched silently as Nami sat on the wooden-dock with her knees hugged tightly to her chest and her chin resting on them. To say she was distressed would probably be an understatement: After abruptly jumping up from her seat at the dining table and sprinting outside, Zoro, Sanji, and Perona quickly followed her out the door and down the path to witness the mikan-head throwing a temper tantrum and screaming wild curses into the air before finally settling down into her current position and staring at the broken rope, which besides a few broken boards floating by some nearby rocks, is the only evidence of her former vessel even being there.

The three up the path continued to watch the woman in silence; occasionally glancing at each other wondering what they should do.

"She's being awfully quiet now. Someone needs to go talk to her, and make sure she is okay." Perona whispered to the two men standing next to her.

"I can't just sit by while a woman is in distress. I'll go do it." Sanji said as he put the cigarette he was smoking out on the ground.

"Not you baka." The pinkette said to the chef. "You'll just flirt with her and make it worse. You go Zoro."

"Eh" He responded in confusion. "Why the hell should I go? You're a woman; wouldn't it be easier for you to talk to her?"

"I don't even know the girl." Perona defended.

"I don't either" Zoro shot back, trying his best to not explode and make a scene. "I just met her last night. I didn't even know she had a name until about an hour ago."

"Well you've still dealt with her the most. Now go!" Perona demanded as she stamped her foot to the ground and pointed towards Nami on the dock.

Zoro mumbled a few curses before starting to head that way, but not before getting some input from Sanji. "And you better not upset her anymore you shitty-marimo, make sure to talk to her properly or I'll kick your ass, you hear me?"

"Shut your damn mouth cook. I don't want to do this in the first place." Zoro shot back at him, before continuing his way down to the dock.

Zoro approached the mikan-head's back, and stood over her for a few moments. He was sure she knew he was there, but she made no effort to turn around and acknowledge him. He scratched the back of his head for a moment, trying to figure out what to say to her, before letting out an "Oi". He still got no response from her as she just continued to stare at the rope hanging off of the wooden pillar in front of her. "Are you alright witch?" His question was flat and emotionless, but it finally got a response from her as she turned her head to look up at him with cold eyes.

"Do I look like I'm alright baka?" She said in a low, and somewhat dangerous voice. "Pretty much everything I owned was on that boat." She quickly jumped up to her feet and got in the swordsman face. "All of my clothes," She began listing while emphasizing each item with her fingers "Some treasure I stole from a rotten politician, and 3 Eternal Poses that I paid damn good Beli for. So tell me exactly what is supposed to be alright?"

"You can buy more clothes and steal more treasure." He said flatly trying not to scream directly into her face. "It doesn't sound like you lost anything important to me."

"And how the hell am I supposed to do that?!" She screamed at him. "My boat is gone! Where the hell am I supposed to get another one?"

"How the hell should I know?!" He finally started screaming back at her, no longer being able to hold in his own temper. "It isn't my damn fault that your boat got swept away. What the hell do you expect me to do about it?"

"How about trying to be a little sympathetic to a girl in need you jerk?"

"Well if you see one make sure to tell me because all I see right now is a loud witch!"

"Dammit you barbarian!" Sanji screamed as he started sprinting towards Zoro's location. "I told you to not upset her anymore! And how dare you call her that?!" Sanji took to the air to do a flying jump kick at Zoro, only for Zoro to immediately draw a sword and block it. The two then started to engage in a small tussle before finally…

"Would you two baka knock it the hell off?!" Nami screamed before hitting them both upside their heads and causing them to fall down face first into the wooden dock. But despite her violent outburst, Nami could feel a small smile creep to her lips. Whether the swordsman realized it or not, the argument she had with him was just what she needed to get over her melancholy state.

"Horo-horo-horo" The mikan-head heard from Perona as she approached from behind. "Well I guess there is only one real solution to this. We'll have to give you a ride to the closest island so that you can find some new clothes and see about possibly finding a new boat." Perona told her with a smile across her face.

"You guys won't mind?" Nami asked, a little embarrassed that she would have to rely on their kindness yet again, but still very grateful for it.

"Not at all." Perona answered her. "After all; it would be so un-cute if you had to wear those same clothes for a few days, and I'm not letting you borrow anymore of mine. Besides; we were needing to go pick up some things anyway, we just came back earlier to get Zoro so he could help with the heavy lifting; it is about the only thing he is good for."

"Tch" Nami heard coming from below her. She looked down to see the swordsman, as he now sat cross-legged with his arms across his chest, having completely recovered from her attack. He was turned slightly away from her and his gaze was on anywhere but her or Perona.

"So does this mean that we get to spend more time with Nami-swan before she parts from us?" This time the voice was to the left of her, and when she turned to look at the voice's owner, she was somehow no longer surprised to see the cook doing his little noodle-dance with a heart in his eye.

"As long as that's alright with everyone?" Nami spoke quietly, mainly directing her comment to the man sitting nearby on the ground. She was however surprised slightly to see the swordsman turn his gaze to her, before responding with a nod and slight curve of the lips and letting out a small "Hmph" in confirmation.

Nami found herself smiling again. Regardless of how much she tried to figure out her hosts; she was still genuinely taken aback by the kindness of these people. She knew she was stepping into dangerous territory, because their kindness was making her already feel herself starting to become very attached to them all, and oddly enough; especially the swordsman.

**End Chapter 2**

*frawn is going to by the nickname I use when Sanji is specifically addressing Perona in an over affectionate way. It is of course a play on the word "fawn" (Fawn: To exhibit affection or attempt to please), and since he sometimes has a habit of slurring his words, such as san to swan or chan to chwan, Perona will be Perona-frawn ;}

So… what did ya all think? Was it a good chap, a bad one, disappointing? Tell me Dammit!

Well it might be a bit before my next update. This is going to be a really busy month for me because I'm planning a vacation overseas to go see someone very special ;}, but it is also a 14 hour flight so I'll try to make it a working vacation if I can.

As always; thank you so much for taking the time to read, and please review.


	3. Chapter 3 Part 1: Leave it

So… I still don't own One Piece and I'm kinda ok with that, but you better believe that if I did own One Piece that it would have a ton more ZoNa moments, and Punk Hazard wouldn't have taken 6 damn months to complete, and Zoro would have actually fought someone worth a damn, and…

…

…

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**Taking In a Stray Cat Chapter 3 1/2: Leave it…**

Nami sat at the rail of the luxury speed boat and blankly stared out over the open waters as it quickly passed her by. At the speed they were going (well over 80km/h), they would reach their destination in no time, which was a good thing, but…

The boat was an extremely expensive double-decker speed boat with an additional observation/navigation deck. It was painted black and had big pink letters reading 'Gothic Princess' on the side of the ship. There were plenty places to just lounge around and enjoy the ride, as well as two full size sleeping cabins. It had a full kitchen and two fully functional restrooms. Nami had been on plenty of boats just like it during her looting sprees. And despite them always being quite expensive, she hated them. They had no real charm, they were only flashy pieces of metals and plastics, nothing compared to wood and sails.

The mikan-head let out a disappointed long sigh as she rested her head against her closed fist while her elbow sat on the railing of the ship. She watched idly as Perona controlled the helm and kept them on course; something that pretty much anyone could do with all the gizmos on this boat. It had a weather radar, a programmable eternal log pose, the wheel at the helm took no effort to control; anyone with a decent sense of direction could keep this boat on course. There was no challenge to sailing at all on a vessel like this. Nami didn't know anyone who couldn't handle it… except for maybe a certain marimo-swordsman.

She found her gaze wandering to the rail directly opposite her where her eyes laid on said swordsman. He was currently sitting on the floor of the observation deck with his arms crossed in front of his chest and his eyes firmly shut, obviously trying to sleep. What she found peculiar though was his back was resting against a decently long pink cushioned bench that would have been plenty big enough to layout on and sleep there, but he had chosen to rest his three-swords on it instead. The expression on his face was calm and peaceful, a large contrast to his normal scowl that she had seen constantly on his face from almost the moment she had met him; it definitely didn't fit the image of the demon that she had originally thought him to be, or even the one she had heard rumors of during his time in the East Blue, that is of course if this was the same Roronoa Zoro she had heard of in East Blue.

She recalled that five years ago a young swordsman showed up in the waters of East Blue seemingly out of nowhere and took it by storm: He was said to travel from island to island almost randomly, and was responsible for the defeat and capture of dozens of high profile pirates and criminals. His strength and skill was said to be that of a demon that gained its power by bathing in the blood of its enemies, because he would take on entire pirate crews and gangs, showing next to no mercy, and coming out virtually unscathed. But then two years ago, the rumors stopped completely and he pretty much disappeared from any of the headlines of the East Blue newspapers, the last rumor she heard was that he was hired as a mercenary by a local upstart claiming to be a pirate, but she couldn't imagine that rumor to be true, and even if it was, what was he now doing in the Grandline living at some castle on Kuraigana Island?

Nami averted her eyes from him to look back out to the water again before letting out another disappointed sigh. "What's your problem?" A masculine voice asked breaking her train of thought. She immediately looked back towards Zoro's location; his eyes were still firmly shut and his arms still crossed in front of his chest, but his facial expression had changed, his signature scowl had returned. He was awake, and with no other male presence on the deck, it was definitely him who had voiced the question. But Nami didn't answer the question, she only stared at him and waited for him to explain instead.

After getting no response from her; Zoro slowly opened his good eye and met her gaze with a stoic look before speaking again. "You're pouting, but it is not because you're still upset about your boat sinking, it is something else, isn't it?"

Nami's eyes widened, but only for a moment, she was genuinely surprised at his perceptiveness, but she would never give him the satisfaction of admitting it. "I'm not pouting" she said defiantly "and don't pretend you know anything about me. You know nothing about me; you live in your own perfect little world, in a big castle, you get to sail around on a big fancy boat, and get to eat five star quality food every day. You have no idea what my life is like, and you have no right to judge me." Nami spat viciously at him before subconsciously letting her right hand go to her left shoulder; she didn't even realize she had done so until she could feel both Perona's and Zoro's eyes on her, causing her to quickly stop rubbing her shoulder, and averting her eyes from the swordsman and looking back out to the open sea.

"You're right" Zoro said simply and calmly. "I have no idea what your life is like, but…" Nami moved her eyes back to him, curious to what he was going to say after the pause. "…I know that nothing in life is perfect, and that the one who seems to be judging right now is you. You know what your problem is? You worry too much. You're over thinking things. You're over thinking everything. Yeah you're on a big ugly boat…"

"My boat is not ugly!' Perona screamed at her brother. "It is cute, just like everything else I own." Perona quickly turned her back in a pout from the direction of the two and returned to looking at the water in front of her and maintaining their course.

"Tch…" he responded to Perona before returning his attention back onto the mikan-head. "As I was saying: You're on a boat surrounded by people you don't really know, but none of us mean you any harm. You should try to quit worrying about everything so much and just sit back and enjoy the ride. As for your problems; you should just leave it…" Nami found herself leaning in towards him, somewhere inside of her mind thinking that he was going to give her some type of deep philosophical advice that would be the answer to all of her problems "…to luck*."

Nami nearly fell over face first at his simple, and in her opinion idiotic answer. Once she regained her balance she quickly responded to him with "What the hell kind of answer is that? My bad luck is what has put me in this situation in the first place you baka!"

"Horo-horo-horo…" Perona let out from the helm after hearing Nami's response.

Zoro only shrugged his shoulders and let a smirk form on his face before he continued. "Hmph… All I'm saying is you should just take things for what they are and not what they could have been. Sure this boat is a little too flashy for your taste," Nami's eyes widened even further than they had before, not only had he noticed she was still upset, but he had noticed that the ship itself had something to do with it "but the thing is comfortable to ride on and beats swimming to shore. Besides; in about 2 seconds you're going to have some love-sick retard screaming your name and Perona's with a couple of drinks in his hands waiting to dote on you hand and foot, so it could be a lot worse."

And almost as if on cue "Perona-Frawn, Nami-Swan… I have a couple of lovely treats for two lovely ladies!" Sanji made his way onto the observation/navigation deck with two strawberry fruit smoothies that he had been preparing in the kitchen below.

He reached Nami first; handing her the glass with great care before moving towards Perona with hers. Nami looked at the smoothie in her hand for a few moments, wondering just how Zoro had predicted that was going to happen. She looked towards the marimo-swordsman to see if he would elaborate any further but noticed his eye was once again closed and he had just a hint of a smirk across his face as he settled back in to take a nap. A small smirk played across Nami's face as well as she turned her attention back onto the water and sipped on the drink that was presented to her. Even though it was so simple and still somewhat idiotic to her; his advice did seem to have a calming and reassuring affect on her '_Just sit back, enjoy the ride, and leave it… …to luck._'

-0-0-0-0-

The 'Gothic Princess' had docked at its desired destination in less than 2 hours after leaving Kuraigana. Their destination was Ruger Island: the largest of a group of three sister islands all within a short distance of each other (3 hours by sail, less than one by speed). Its other sister islands were Beretta; which was the second largest of the three but had the smallest population because it had a unique atmosphere that made it perfect for all year farming and therefor over 95% of the island was covered with farmland. And the third island was Mossberg; despite being the smallest of the three islands Mossberg is a manufacturer's paradise specializing in transportation manufacturing (boats, planes, trains, etc.), as well clothing, and military technologies, it is said that the ships built in Mossberg can rival that of even Water's 7.

With Ruger having the largest landmass, as well as population, it is an ideal location to show case both the manufactured goods from Mossberg, as well as the farmed goods from Beretta, which has allowed Ruger to have grown into a huge commercial island with one of the largest and most famous shopping districts in all the Grandline: Browning Center. Browning Center is so famous that it gets imported goods from all around the world, making its port a must stop for any shopping enthusiast in the area, as well as a great stop for tourists of all kinds. It is no secret that Browning Center is the main reason that the Grand Baratie makes it home in-between the water's of Ruger, Beretta, and Mossberg.

Almost immediately after making port; Perona quickly dragged Nami off to one of the larger fashion areas of Browning Center, leaving the two men to go shopping for food to both restock the castle as well to allow Sanji to put in his weekly orders for the restaurant.

Despite Perona's unique sense in fashion; the mikan-head was quite enjoying their little shopping-spree, so much so that Nami had little trouble with actually parting with the Beli she had been keeping hidden in her bra even after maxing out the three credit cards she had stolen from some two-bit hustler in Mock Town on her recent trip to Jaya. She found herself starting to actually struggle with carrying all the bags she had acquired as well as just starting to realize that she hadn't figured out a solution to her transportation problem, or where she was going to travel next from there, but she didn't have much time to think about anything as the pinkette continued to drag her from store to store.

"Come on," Perona said excitedly. "We have to go to that one next." She pointed at a store that the sign read 'The Dark Princess' in a mix of pink and black letters, before dragging Nami along behind her. "They have just the cutest clothes, you'll love it, and I can't stop on this island without going to this store."

Nami didn't even have time to protest or ask what the store was like until she was already inside of it. Upon entering she immediately saw what Perona liked about the store: the front half of the store was filled with racks of Gothic Lolita style clothing, while the back… was devoted solely to fetish and S & M gear, instantly reminding Nami of the room in the basement that Zoro had dragged her into the previous night.

Almost immediately upon entering Perona was greeted happily by a young brunette woman clad in some of the fetish clothing. "Perona-sama, it is so nice to see you, and you brought a friend other than Sanji-kun. Is this a new sub* of yours?"

"Horo-horo-horo!" The pinkette laughed amusedly at the woman's question before Nami had a chance to scream a definitive no at the woman. "No; this is Nami, she is just a guest of my brother's right now." Perona explained nonchalantly.

Nami tried to explain that she also wasn't a guest of Zoro's but didn't have the chance as the other woman quickly greeted her as well. "It is a pleasure to meet you Nami-sama. My name is Candy*, and any friend of Perona-sama's family is a friend of mine." Nami again was about to try and properly explain her situation to the young woman, but Candy's eagerness could not be stopped. "And of course that means that you would also get Perona-sama's 20% discount on any of the merchandise in the store."

"…20% discount?" The mikan-head repeated to confirm if she had heard right, getting a nod from the sales clerk. "I'm going to look around."

As Nami proceeded to look around the store a little; Perona and Candy struck up a small conversation about some of the new arrivals into the shop. For the most part the conversation wasn't really interesting to Nami, until Candy brought up something that got her attention. "… and we should be receiving the delivery of your new line from Mossberg next week." The salesclerk told the pinkette in a confirming voice.

"About time," Perona said with a hint of irritation in her voice. "With how well my new designs did at the last fashion show, you would have thought those un-cute baka at the clothing factory would have got those orders filled over a month ago. I swear that if it wasn't for Mossberg being so close I would have sent my entire line to a different company over a year ago."

"Perona" Nami spoke up curiously while holding a boot in her hand "Are you a fashion designer?"

Both Perona and Candy burst into a small fit of laughter at Nami's question, but could quickly tell that Nami was serious with her question, which Candy was only too happy to explain. "Of course Perona-sama is. She is the famous designer of the 'Gothic Princess' line. One of the fastest growing clothing lines in the Grandline."

The mikan-head was actually taken aback by what she had heard. She knew she had recognized the name on the side of the boat from somewhere, but just hadn't put the pieces together. Of course she had heard of the 'Gothic Princess Clothing Line', it was becoming extremely popular amongst young women all over, even in the East Blue; Nami never really saw the appeal in the clothes, but the popularity of the clothing line was undeniable. She could feel a slight blush forming on her face as the other two women looked on in amusement, and she had the sudden urge to escape. She could tell that neither of the two women were judging her, but she was still uncomfortable under their gaze. She desperately looked for something to talk about to get their attention off of her, or at least a notable distraction… when she saw a flash of green walking past the window.

"Wasn't that your brother?" Nami questioned as she pointed out the window. "I thought he was with Sanji-kun getting supplies or something."

"Eh…" Perona answered indifferently with a shrug of her shoulders. "He is probably just wandering around lost again."

"Well shouldn't someone go get him?" The mikan-head asked, kind of confused at how laidback Perona was about it.

"He always finds his way eventually. But if you're worried about it…" The pinkette began to say with a mischievous smile.

"I'm not worried about him!" Nami quickly defended. "But he still shouldn't be left to just wander around. I'll go get him."

Nami quickly put the boot in her hand back on the rack and scooped up all of her bags and hurried out the door after the marimo-swordsman. She couldn't help but hear a small chuckle escape Perona before she was completely out the door, but she paid it no mind because she was honestly a little relieved to be out of that store and no longer have the attention directly on her. She was able to spot her intended target pretty easily and quickly approached him.

"Oi marimo" Nami called from behind him, getting him to turn around and give her a stern gaze from her choice of nickname. "What are you doing? I thought you were supposed to be helping Sanji-kun?"

"Tch" The swordsman sounded off at her question. "The damn ero-cook was drooling all over some sales clerk for 20 minutes, so I got bored and decided to go look for someplace to get a drink."

"I haven't seen a bar for blocks. You're lost again aren't you?"

"Dammit witch! Quit accusing me of getting lost!" He spat venomously at her, but she only looked back at him with a small smirk on her face.

"Hahaha!" She finally let out, amused at how serious he was being. "Come on baka, your sister is in this store over here, let's go meet up with her and then we'll all find Sanji-kun together, I'm done shopping anyway."

They both started to move towards the store when Zoro suddenly stopped. Nami turned to him to see why and saw a reluctant look of horror on his face. "I'm not going in that store. That place freaks me out." He admitted without shame. "And that damn girl who works there scares the hell out of me. Besides; dragging Perona away from there is almost as impossible as dragging Swirly away from a damn woman when he goes into noodle-mode."

"Yeah…" Nami said with a sigh. "I was pretty uncomfortable in there too. So you got any suggestions on what we should do?"

"Hmm…" Zoro paused for a moment to think about what their next course of action should be, and then he remembered… "Didn't you need to find a new boat or something? Didn't you have somewhere you needed to go from here?"

His questions caused realization to hit Nami like a sack of bricks; in all the excitement and the fun she was having shopping with Perona, she had forgotten about her problems. Her face immediately sunk and a sad look formed in her eyes; she knew it was silly to be sad about it, because she still didn't really know this man in front of her, or his family, but part of her didn't want to leave them so soon, plus she still wasn't sure where to even go.

Zoro could sense the conflicted emotions coming from her, as well as her confusion, he genuinely wanted to help the mikan-head, but just wasn't quite sure how. "If you want…" He began to say, getting her to give him her attention. "I know a guy who builds boats. If I vouched for you I'm sure he would cut you a decent deal. And he works fast too if you want something specific."

"Oh yeah…" Nami said, trying to sound a little cheerful. "And where do I find this guy?"

"Hold on and let me see, he might be on the island." Zoro closed his one good eye and it looked like he started to concentrate. Nami could only sit and watch with a confused expression. And then Zoro's eye opened suddenly before he spoke. "Yeah… he's here. Follow me."

The mikan-head could only give him an inquisitive look at first, not sure is she should believe him or not, buy the confidence written on his face somehow changed her mind. "Well I'm not sure if you're just full of crap or not, but I'll take your word for it. But if you're the one leading the way, then you better carry my bags…" She quickly shoved her shopping bags at him with force. "They're getting heavy, and with your sense of direction this could take hours."

"How many times do I have to tell you? My sense of direction is fine you demanding witch!"

"Then prove it; lead the way." Nami told him with a challenging smirk; which got the desired results she was hoping for as he adjusted the bags in his hands and made no more complaint as he turned and headed towards the port. Nami followed suit, still skeptical of whether he would lead them in the right direction, but she in truth didn't mind at all if they did get lost.

**End Chapter 3 1/2: Leave it…**

Author Notes

*1: "Leave it… (big dramatic pause) …to luck" is what Zoro said while riding on the top of the train in the Water's 7/Enies Lobby Arc and is probably my 2nd favorite quote from Zoro of all time.

*2: A "sub" is short for submissive and is an S & M reference.

*3: For those of you who have read my "Dance the Night Away" story, you may recognize Candy as my Filler OC… I don't really like to come up with new characters very often so I recycle my old ones when I can ;p

Ok people… so this was originally going to be longer and that is why it is Chapter 3 1/2 instead of just Chapter 3, but as I said in my author notes at the end of Chapter 2, I have been planning an overseas trip so I haven't really had much time to write… but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging for too long so I decided to go ahead and post this first half before I jump on the plane and head to go see my KimuraMinami in Shanghai in a couple of days ;}

Well I hope this chapter didn't disappoint. If it did feel free to scream at me in the review or PM me. As always: thank you so much for taking the time to read, and please review ;}


	4. Chapter 3 Part 2: to luck

Alright… no excuses, no whining from me... yet. You guys want to read the next chap, so here it is without further delay…

After a quick disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

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**Taking In A Stray Cat: Chapter 3 2/2: …to luck**

About 45 minutes later: the duo found themselves facing the dead end of yet another alley. "Dammit" the swordsman cursed for probably the 100th time within that 45 minute span. Nami stood behind him, with her arms crossed over her chest, and tapping her sandaled foot to the ground. She was faking irritation, when it truth she was actually quite impressed with him. In a way; his consistency of turning them down the wrong street over and over again was impressive in itself. Plus even though it was taking longer than it probably should have; they were definitely heading in a particular direction, it seemed to be more a matter of him not knowing what streets to take to get them there. "Why do all these damn buildings keep moving into my way?" He complained with his brow furrowed in frustration, causing her to let out a small chuckle.

"Buildings don't move randomly baka." She told him, trying to sound irritated, but really she was very amused. "You just keep turning us down the wrong street. Where exactly are we going?"

"We're going to see that guy I told you about that builds boats." He told her as if she had asked a stupid question.

"Uhg… that isn't what I mean." Nami massaged her temples for a moment before continuing. "Where is this guy who builds boats? Does he have a shop, or does he come here to do his trading?"

"Oh… well he just comes here to do his trading and get people to hire him for custom jobs. As for where he is…" Zoro paused for another moment, and got the same look on his face that he had earlier. "…he is over there." He pointed past the wall that was blocking their path.

"Towards the ports where we docked at?" The mikan-head questioned getting a nod from him in response. "Well why the hell didn't you just take us down the main streets leading to the ports?"

"Tch…" The swordsman sounded off. "This way is faster."

"It obviously isn't faster you baka-marimo!" Nami yelled at him. "Dammit; I knew you'd get lost. Alright baka; you're following me, come on." She turned to head back out of the alley and towards the main-streets, before being stopped by his protesting voice.

"But you don't even know where you're going." He told her defiantly. "And you don't even know what the guy looks like. You should just let me lead and…"

"Oh would you just come on?!" Nami stalked up to him and grabbed him firmly by the wrist to drag him along. "You already said he was over by the ports. I'll get us in the general area and then you can point the way from there. Otherwise it is going to take all day."

Zoro was surprised by how suddenly she had grabbed him and started pulling him through the backstreets back the direction that they had come from, but if he had any complaints about it, he didn't voice them; almost as if he was comfortable with the contact and the forcefulness of her actions. Regardless of why he didn't protest, one thing was for sure; he couldn't deny her confidence in directions, and they weren't really getting anywhere at the pace they were going. So he decided to just go along with it for now.

They walked for several moments, with her just continuing to drag him along. Neither of them had really said anything to each other but there was something on Nami's mind. "Oi…" she paused and waited for him to give her an "Hmph" to confirm that he was listening. "You really do know where this guy is don't you? How is that?"

"Kenbunshoku Haki*" He responded flatly, but not in a cocky way. "I've travelled with him a bit so it is pretty easy to tell his presence from others."

Nami could only give him a confused look in response… causing Zoro to sigh heavily as he knew she would want him to explain.

"I never really got into all the details" he started "but pretty much everyone has an energy to them, and through training you can harness this energy to use as a tool in combat or for general purposes as well."

"That sounds really useful actually… so is it only that way on people, or does it work for animals too?"

"It works for anything with a spirit. Even items."

"Items don't have spirits." Nami scoffed at him.

"Of course they do. It all depends on the item, and the owner of the item. Take my swords for example; I always know where they are because my own spirit has been put into them, as well as the spirit and the ambition that the previous owners put into them."*

"Oh yeah" the mikan-head continued skeptically "and how do you see this spirit?"

"Well it is hard to explain… but the best way I can put is that they all have a unique glow to them, like a specific color to that person, animal or object. For the most part you only recognize the colors of those you're familiar with: like this guy we're going to see is like a cyan-blue, or the ero-cook is a yellowish color and Perona is a pinkish color, but for people I don't know it is more like a grayish color."

"Do I have a color?" Nami asked, genuinely curious to know if he already felt familiar enough around her to see a color.

"You're orange, like your hair." He answered quickly without much thought. But his answer had more of an impact than he would know, because she couldn't help but let a small blush form on her face as they continued to walk towards the ports.

With the ports finally in sight, Nami let out a small sigh that she hadn't realized she had been holding in. "There it is." She said while pointing towards all the boats lined up in the local docks. "Now which way do we go from here?"

"Hmph" Zoro said, somehow honestly impressed that she had found their way to the port. "Finding him is the easy part: He'll be under the most obnoxious sign you've ever seen and probably surround by a bunch of idiots."

A soft light laughter broke their concentration as they turned around to see a tall brunette woman leaning against a nearby wall, who was a little older than them, and had a sly smile on her face. "Now, now, kenshi-san. It wasn't very long ago that you were one of those idiots."

"Where the hell did you come from Robin?" Zoro asked, wondering how the woman had snuck up behind him. "I know you're just the clone, but I can normally sense you."

"Well I saw your unmistakable green hair from the dock and decided I would be the first to greet you, you must have just been distracted by that pretty young lady holding your hand."

Both Zoro and Nami gave her a confused look for a moment before they both looked down at the swordsman's wrist that was still firmly in Nami's grasp. Their faces paled and realization struck that the scene could be misinterpreted as romantic. Nami quickly released his wrist like it was a piece of burning steel scolding her hand. Furious blushes formed on their faces as they tried to figure out how to explain their situation…

"ZORO!"

…but they didn't have to as young man wearing a straw-hat came sprinting towards them.

The swordsman let out a genuine sigh of relief because he knew the young man heading their way would undoubtedly be more than enough of a distraction to relieve the awkward feeling floating around the air. But his face turned to one of horror, and his one good eye bulged as he realized that the young man wasn't slowing down but only gaining speed. "Wait… Luffy don't you…" He screamed trying to reason with the straw-hat wearing teen, but knew it was already too late as he watched Luffy's feet leave the ground and his entire body come flying towards Zoro's. Zoro could do nothing but allow the young man to tackle him several feet backwards and to the ground; he was unable to defend himself do to the numerous number of shopping bags still in his arms. The swordsman groaned in pain from the ground for a bit before finally regaining his composure and lashing out at the other man. "Dammit Luffy! Why do you have to do that every time?"

He forced the younger man off of him with a quick punch to the head and a hard shove, sending Luffy into the air several feet before he landed on his back. But completely undaunted by the swordsman's physical assault, Luffy sprung to his feet and gave a quick "Shishishi" while scratching the back of his head before giving an appropriate apology "Sorry about that Zoro. I just got excited to see you."

Nami could only sit back and watch in shock as Zoro continued to berate Luffy while picking up Nami's bags from the ground: it was actually kind of amazing to her that first the older woman, and then this new boyish man were being so casual with the swordsman she thought to be a demon not so long ago. What was it about this man and the people he surrounded himself seemed to draw her in?

"Oi… are you even paying attention Luffy?" Zoro screamed at him, but Luffy's attention was on something else. It was on Nami.

"Zoro…" Luffy spoke with a confused look on his face. "Who's that?" He asked pointing directly at Nami, drawing everyone's attention on to her.

"Oh… That's Nami, she's a cat-burglar who snuck into our castle last night."

"Would you stop introducing me like that?!" Nami screamed at him, for some odd reason feeling slightly embarrassed at the idea that his friends might think low of her.

"I don't see what the problem is. It is true, isn't it?" The swordsman said defensively.

"Well yeah, but they might…" The mikan-head was about to explain that she didn't want to be judged horribly but was stopped when she noticed a strange look in the straw-hat wearer's eyes: his eyes had transformed into stars.

"REALLY?!" He asked excitedly. "You're a cat-burglar?" Nami only gave him a slightly confused nod to confirm. "THAT'S SO COOL!"

"Huh…" was all Nami could say in response, not at all used to people being excited by her occupation.

"So does that mean you can turn into a cat when you are burgering? What else can you do? Do you chase mice and other stuff like that too?" He started to barrage her with random questions, only to get an even more confused look from her, while Robin gave a slight chuckle and Zoro a dissatisfied grown. "Oi Zoro, are you going to keep her?"

"No I am not going to keep her you baka. First off it is burglar and not burger, and second she is a person not a pet." He screamed at him before thumping him on the top of his head with a hard strike.

"Ehh…" Luffy said with a look of confusion. "So she isn't a cat. And what's a burglar?"

"It's a thief." Zoro explained through grit teeth.

"That's boring" Luffy said disappointed. "It would be cooler if she could turn into a cat. Do you have any other skills Nami?"

Nami stared blankly for a moment, honestly surprised that she was getting asked a direct question from the younger-man that she could answer. "Yeah, I'm actually a great navigator and I can read weather patterns." She boasted confidently.

"Whoa… Really? Oi Zoro, wasn't Sanji and Usopp always saying we needed a navigator after we met them in East Blue?"

"Tch" Zoro sounded off "Those idiots were always finding something to cry about. We got around just fine without one."

"Shishishi, except for all those times you got us lost."

"I never got us lost dammit! That was your shitty captaining skills."

Luffy's face took on a pout because of Zoro's insult. "Well we managed didn't we, but fine, when we go back out to sea we'll get a navigator. I know" the Straw-hat wearing teen said pounding his fist into his hand to emphasize he had an idea "you can be our navigator Nami."

"What…" Nami responded quickly, dumbfounded by the request. "What do you need a navigator for?"

"For my pirate crew." Luffy said with an ear-splitting smile on his face.

Nami's face took on a somewhat sour look, like the mere mention of the word pirate was a taboo to her, but there was something about his grin, about how good natured that this young man seemed that she must have heard wrong "What kind of crew?"

"A pirate crew. Me, Zoro, and Robin are all part of it. I'm the captain." Luffy's smile only kept increasing as he talked about his pirate crew. "You have to join."

Nami's right arm instinctively went to her shoulder and started to rub it aggressively; this time Zoro's eye went directly to watching her actions, but he remained silent. "I would never join a pirate crew. Pirates are scum." There was venom in her voice as well as an obvious hate for pirates. But Luffy's smile would not fade.

"No they aren't." He said confidently. "Being a pirate is fun. We go on adventures, meet lots of new friends, and have the greatest parties. You have to join us so we can show you just how much fun it is. You know what, I've decided; you're going to be our navigator, come on, and let's go meet everyone else."

Without warning Luffy grabbed Nami's wrist and started dragging her towards the docks, she didn't even have the time to protest until the ports were already under her feet. Zoro only shook his head before looking down into his arms and realizing he was still holding onto all of her bags. "Dammit" he cursed as he slowly started to follow them, getting a soft chuckle from Robin nearby.

Upon stepping on the docks that Luffy had dragged her to, Nami immediately noticed an enormous wooden sign at the end that read 'SUPER FRANKY'S SUPER SHIP BUILDING SUPER COMPANY… SSSSSUUUUPPPPEEEERRRR' in all capital letters with several people standing near it. The people consisted of a young man with a long nose who seemed to be telling a story to a small… tanuki who was listening eagerly, a very large man with cyan-blue hair dancing about in only a Hawaiian-style shirt and a speedo, as well as Robin sitting on a nearby crate reading a book, but it was a wonder to Nami on how she had already got there before them.

"Oi mina!" Luffy shouted upon approaching them. "You guys have to meet our new navigator Nami."

"I'm not your new navigator you baka!"

"Hahaha." The long nose man let out. "You'll just have to get used to that Nami. Once Luffy has made up his mind he won't change it. Allow me to introduce myself. I am THE GREAT CAPTAIN USOPP! And the greatest sniper in all the Grandline… no, the world!" He exclaimed while striking a pose.

"Oi, I'm the captain." Luffy quickly retorted.

"OWWW! I guess I'll go next." The large man with the metal nose said. "I'm Franky. A SUPER CYBORG and a SUPER SHIPWRIGHT! If you need something super mechanical or a super ship built, I'm your SUPER MAN!" Nami instantly realized that this must have been the guy Zoro had been talking about earlier, and despite her wanting to say something, she chose to remain silent about the man's obvious obsession with the word super.

Nami noticed that the tanuki who had been listening to Usopp's story earlier was no longer where he had been, he instead was now trying to hide behind the crate Robin was sitting on… but was doing it wrong as his entire body was sticking out for her to see and only one eye was covered behind the crate. "Who is the cute little tanuki?" Nami asked in a sweet voice hoping to coax him out of hiding."

"I'm a reindeer!" The small creature screeched jumping out from his 'hiding' spot and addressing her. "And don't think that calling me cute makes me happy at all asshole." He said as he went into a little wiggle dance.

"This is Tony-Tony Chopper, and as you can see, he doesn't hide his emotions very well." Robin said with an amused smile on her face from Chopper's actions. "And he is also a great doctor."

"Quit complementing me baka." Chopper screeched out again going into another happy dance.

"I can see that." Nami said referring to Chopper's inability to control his happiness.

"So what do you think of our little crew?" Robin voiced her question, but to Nami's surprise the voice came from behind her. Nami quickly turned around to see another Robin standing next to Zoro who was now on the dock with all of her shopping bags still under his arms. The mikan-head's eyes widened with surprise when the second Robin disappeared into a cloud of Sakura-pedals, and she quickly turned back around to the original, who just had a polite smile on her face.

"Well…" Nami began as she thought about the question, her mind was racing from just how different they all were from each other. "You guys are definitely not what I expected of a pirate crew." She said honestly. "Is this your entire crew? It is a little small."

"Shishishi" Luffy laughed a little with his smile only getting bigger (if that was even possible) on his face. "No, Sanji isn't here yet, and we also have a musician, but you'll have to meet him later because he isn't here."

"So Sanji-kun is in your guy's crew too?" Nami questioned, getting a nod from Luffy in return. Nami continued to process the information, she couldn't believe the group in front of her could be pirates, they were all so good natured from what she could tell.

"We're not that kind of pirate crew." Zoro spoke breaking her out of her thoughts. "We just don't like playing by the same set of rules the World Government tries to lay out for us."

Nami could hear some wisdom in his words, throughout her travels she had seen plenty of corrupt politicians and government officials to know that the system was flawed, possibly beyond repair, and she wasn't exactly known for acting within the confines of the law either, in some ways, some would call her acts similar to that of pirates. She could also tell that just by looking at this group of strange people that they all had good hearts, even Zoro despite his gruff exterior, and though she still hated the word pirate, she couldn't find it in herself to look ill on any of these nice people.

"OI! YOU DAMN LAZY ASS MARIMO!" Everyone heard a voice approaching from the end of the docks only to turn and see Sanji heading their way. "Where the hell have you been? You were supposed to help me with the supplies, not wander off and get lost." Sanji continued to approach Zoro with a threatening look in his one visible eye as he took a large drag from his cigarette.

The swordsman sensed the other man's violent intentions and placed Nami's packages on the ground before resting one hand on the hilt of Shuusui*. "I didn't get lost you ero-imp. You were taking too long in shopping for your tampons so I went to get a drink." Zoro's menacing voice caused Sanji to throw his cigarette to the ground and to get into a fighting stance for yet another one of their heated sparring matches. "Besides, the woman needed to see someone about a ship so I brought her to see Franky." Zoro finished saying while slowly unsheathing his sword only a couple of inches…

…but the word woman didn't go unnoticed by Sanji as his eyebrow perked up. He quickly tilted his head to look just past Zoro to see Nami standing there with a perplexed look on her face. "Nami-swan?" Sanji quickly blew past Zoro to get closer to the mikan-head, causing the swordsman to scoff at his actions, but the cook paid no mind. "I'm so sorry for not seeing you earlier, the ugly ass cyclops was in the way. What do we owe the honor of you still being with us?"

Before Nami could answer him Luffy quickly piped up "She is our new navigator."

Nami had no time to reply again as Sanji quickly went into a small fit of glee as a heart quickly replaced his one visible eye. "So you decided to stay with us? Oh Nami-swan, I'm so happy, you've made me the happiest man alive my love!"

Nami watched in shock as Sanji stretched out his arms and lunged slightly towards her with puckered lips, she put up her hands to push him away from her if he did get too close, but her efforts weren't needed as the cook got tugged backwards and thrown to the ground by an angry Zoro. "You're already married to my sister you damn love sick moron! Keep your damn hands and lips off of her."

Nami let out a sigh of relief as she watched Zoro proceed to roughhouse the cook and berate him before finally turning her attention back towards Luffy and rest. "I really appreciate the offer, I can tell that you are all great people and it would be really fun to be part of your crew, but I really can't." Her words caused several of the faces to become crestfallen, including her own a little, and they even caused Zoro and Sanji to halt in the middle of their fighting.

An awkward silence filled the air for a few moments until finally "BOOOO!" Luffy exclaimed in a pout, getting a surprised reaction from Nami. "You're boring. Well whatever, I say we at least have a party before you leave." Luffy's smile was back, and so was everyone else's, and the awkward atmosphere was gone completely.

"That is an excellent idea Luffy-san" Robin said with her trademark smile across her face. "It has been quite some time since we were all in one place like this."

"Oh, and I'll get a chance to tell all of you guys about the recent adventures of the Great Captain Usopp." The long-nose boasted.

"Really, I want to hear them." Chopper said excitedly.

"As long as there is plenty of cola, I'm sure it would be a Super Party!" Franky shouted out as he struck his signature pose.

"OOH, OOH, and Sanji can cook us lots of meat!" Luffy exclaimed, as he jumped up and down with excitement.

"And where the hell are we supposed to have this party you shitty rubber bastard?" The cook questioned as he pulled another cigarette from the pack in his shirt pocket.

"We'll have it at you guy's place. I want to play with the monkeys." The straw-hat wearing teen said like it was the most obvious decision in the world.

"Nani?!*" Usopp and Chopper screamed simultaneously with their eyes almost bulging out of their heads. "The Humandrills, you can't be serious Luffy, those things are dangerous." Usopp tried to reason. "Yeah Luffy; those things are dangerous." Chopper repeated/shouted hoping it would help to persuade their captain's decision.

"They're not that dangerous, they're fun, besides, with me, Zoro, and Sanji there they probably won't even try fighting us."

"You have to reconsider Luffy, we should have the party somewhere else. I can already feel myself coming down with an If-I-Go-Anywhere-Near-Those-Humandrills-I-Will-Die -Disease." The long-nose was pleading with Luffy now, but Luffy showed no signs of faltering, and only laughed at his friend's action in response.

Nami, who had been sitting back and watching the whole exchange, felt like she should say something, like she should protest herself, but there was something telling her it would do no good to do so, and just to confirm her suspicions, she leaned to the side towards Zoro who was now standing beside her quietly, and asked "This is one of those things they won't let me say no to isn't it?"

"Hmph…" Zoro confirmed with a nod of his head, and out of the corner of his eye noticed Nami's shoulders slump in defeat. "Look on the bright side; you still need to talk to Robo about a ship, at least this will give you plenty of time." The mikan head responded to him with a slight smirk and a nod of her head.

"Yosh!" Luffy screamed out to grab everyone's attention. "Let's go to the creepy island to have a party!"

"Sounds super to me." Franky confirmed. "Oi, long-nose-bro, and doctor-bro; give me a hand with packing all of this stuff up so we can start heading that way. We'll meet you lot there Mugiwara."

Everybody exchanged a quick goodbye as Usopp, Chopper, Franky, and Robin started to take down Franky's temporary business stand, and Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Nami made their way towards the 'Gothic Princess' with Zoro and Sanji carrying Nami's bags.

"Oi shit-heads" Sanji spoke during their walk. "When we get there you two baka need to help me load up the supplies, and you better not try and eat any you damn rubber bastard."

"Is there anything I should do to help Sanji-kun? Even though I'm not very strong and don't know if I'll be of much help." Nami said in a sickly sweet voice. She didn't really want to help, but she also didn't want to feel like she wasn't offering, and she already knew that if she asked Sanji in the right tone he would answer…

"Oh no Nami-swan, don't you worry about anything, you are a guest, as well as a lovely lady, and I would never expect you to have to help with something that these two brutes should be able to do even with their small intelligence." Sanji cooed back to her in reply getting a "Tch" from Zoro in response. "You say something marimo?"

"Only that it is obvious that you're the real baka here ero-cook. She is just manipulating you so she doesn't have to do any work and you're playing right into her hands."

Nami quickly elbowed Zoro in the stomach to silence him, and then turned her attention back to Sanji. "You don't believe that do you Sanji-kun?"

"Of course not, I know that my lovely Nami-swan is an angel and would never manipulate me." The cook exclaimed with a heart in his eye.

The mikan-head then turned her back towards Zoro to give a quick wink and a razz of her tongue at him, getting a "Manipulative witch" in reply from him. Nami smirked to herself from his insult, because she found it slightly amusing that despite saying she was manipulative, he had been carrying her bags for quite some time now and had long quit complaining about it. Regardless of what he said aloud, she could tell that he didn't truly mind her manipulating ways.

-0-0-0-0-

The four had reached the 'Gothic Princess' to meet Perona and head back to Kuraigana Island after making short work of loading the supplies. Nami had took much amusement at the excitement Luffy brought on to the boat as he was constantly hounding Sanji for food, or asking Zoro to play with him despite the grumpy swordsman obviously trying to sleep. Eventually Luffy had approached her and the two had started playing a game of cards to pass the time back to the island.

As soon as they made dock on the island they were met with the rest of the group who had beat them there because Franky's boat was much faster, but the ride must have taken quite the toll on Chopper and Usopp because they were both pale and laying on the ground as if they had experienced something very scary. Luffy immediately demanded that they find a place to have the party in the old ruins of Shikkearu Kingdom that are normally the stomping grounds of the Humandrills, and while Sanji set up the Barbeque Pit, the straw-hat wearing teen went off to look for some of the usually violent monkeys.

The party had been underway for long over an hour now and the sun had already set. The mikan head had used the opportunity to talk to Franky about acquiring a ship and after a lot of firm negotiating she had managed to talk him down to a more than reasonable price… or at least reasonable for her, Franky not so much. And with business done, it was time to enjoy herself. She quickly emerged herself into some enjoyable conversations with everyone as well as a few drinks that Sanji was more than happy to run back to the castle to get for everyone, well mainly her, Robin, and Perona, but he was still more than happy to do so.

Nami had to admit, that this group was fun. They were all so different that they always had something unique and interesting to add to the conversations, or their own little ways of having fun, especially the captain: when he wasn't stuffing his face, he was finding all kinds of ways to act like a goof and entertain everyone.

"Oi mina! Look what I taught the monkeys to do!" Luffy yelled grabbing everybody's attention. What they saw was one of the most shocking and bizarre things any of them had ever seen. Luffy, along with 3 of the Humandrills, all had Chopsticks sticking up each of their nostrils and into the bottom of their lips and were all doing a bizarre dance that could have only been Luffy's doing.

The sight instantly caused Chopper, Ussop, Perona, and Franky to go into a huge fit of hysterical laughter, while Robin gave an amused quiet laugh. Even Nami who didn't know why something so childish was funny, couldn't contain her laughter at the scene in front of her. In fact; the only ones that were not laughing were Sanji, who only slapped his forehead in disbelief and had an amused smile on his face and Zoro…

"Dammit Luffy!" The swordsman screamed drawing everyone's curious gaze to see why he was angry. "Don't teach them that. Only a couple of them are stupid enough to try and fight me anymore; if you teach them crap like that there won't be any left for me to spar with."

Luffy sputtered his lips at Zoro in a semi pout before saying "I like them better this way. You're already way stronger than any of them anyway. Why do you only want to fight them, you should be having fun with them and letting them join the party every now and then."

"Fighting them is fun to me." Zoro defended.

"Mugiwara is right swords-bro." Franky interjected. "You should lighten up a little; this is a party after all. Here, let me give it a shot." The cyborg hopped up from his spot and joined the group of Humandrills and Luffy. "It goes like this: Butt to the right, OW, right hand on the waist, left hand straight out, YEAH, now rotate; right, left, right, left, right, left*" The three women along with Zoro could now only stare in disbelief as Franky, along with Luffy, Ussop, Chopper, Sanji, and a whole heard of Humandrills followed along to Franky's dance "Now big finish…" the entire group bent down low and circled their forearms over each other in unison before bringing them up to all strike Franky's signature pose and all letting out a big "SSSUUUPPPEEERRR!"

Nami could hear Zoro grumbling under his breath at the sight in front of him, but all anger and irritation quickly lifted soon afterwards as the party really went into full swing now that Luffy's new friends the Humandrills joined in. Eventually Zoro even found himself a drinking buddy in one of the monkeys. Nami found herself getting lost in the fun, for the first time in a very long time forgetting all of her worries. She let out a content sigh after taking a big swig of ale before placing the now empty mug down beside her. She just sat back and watched the antics of each member of the crew and the monkeys now imitating them before her eyes eventually settled on the swordsman. She watched with interest as he slammed down his own empty mug of ale and enjoyed the sound of his hearty laughter as the monkey who had been his drinking opponent fell over from the effects of too much alcohol. She could feel the smile on her face while watching him, and made no efforts to try and hide it even when his gaze turned toward her and they made eye contact. But her smile did falter a little when she noticed an unusual spot of light shining on his face and her eyes moved to find the source, and she found it: it was the moonlight reflecting off of something metallic in one of the nearby collapsed ruins.

She got up from her spot and walked past the swordsman towards the object, knowing that his good eye was following her movements with curiosity. She approached the collapsed building; the object was hard to make out in the darkness of the night, she reached down to grab it, but it was stuck under a piece of fallen roof that she wasn't strong enough to lift. Frustrated, she was just about to kick the piece of wood roofing truss when she felt a hand grab her shoulder. She turned to see Zoro standing behind her, and without a word he moved past her and lifted the truss with ease. She quickly shot under his out stretched form and pulled out the metal object and got out of the small space so he could set the wood down.

Now with the object in hand she went over to where the boys had started a bonfire to get a better look at it with Zoro in tow. But the swordsman wasn't the only one curious to Nami's find, a few others noticed it and came over to peer over her shoulder and see what it was. "What do you have there, Nami-san?" Robin asked politely.

"I'm not sure yet." The mikan-head answered truthfully as she continued to examine the square object in her hand. She could immediately tell it was make out of pure silver, though heavily damaged, it was still worth quite a bit of money in just scrap weight. She could tell from the weight that it was hollow and could hear items moving around inside of it. She had quickly figured out that it must have been an old jewelry box, now it was just a matter of getting it open without a key and because of the damage it would also have to be forced open because the hinges no longer lined up right…

"Give it to me." Zoro said in a soft yet firm voice, sensing the nature of the problem. Nami handed it to him without any doubt in her movements. Placing one hand on the base of the box and one on the top of the lid; all it took was a bend of his wrist, a snap of the lock, and a whine from the hinges bending and the box was open before he handed it back to her.

Now the box had everyone's attention as they hovered to see its contents (even the Humandrills); everyone's eyes widened with genuine curiosity and amazement at the contents. It was filled with dozens of gold, silver, and diamond rings, earrings and necklaces, all in pristine condition. Nami's eyes turned into Beli symbols as she picked up a couple of the jewelry pieces to examine them. She was giddy with excitement, but then she realized something…

Her face took on a crestfallen appearance as she closed the box the best she could and attempted to hand it over to Zoro. "I guess this is yours since you guy's technically own this island huh?" Regardless of how much she wanted the box and its contents, or actually needed it even, she couldn't just keep it for herself after all the kindness everyone had shown her.

The swordsman gave her a raised eyebrow and a shrug of his shoulders before telling her. "You found it, it's yours."

"Are you serious?" Nami asked genuinely surprised. "Some of these diamonds alone are worth a couple million Beli apiece. If I know my treasure, which I do, I'd say everything here could fetch at least 20 million Beli, even on the black market."

"None of us have any use for it. It doesn't look like any of it is Perona's style, and unless the shitty-cook has an okama relapse…"

"Oi, you shut your shitty mouth you damn-marimo! No one is supposed to talk about that!"

"…none of us are going to wear any of it. You can have it."

"But I don't understand." The mikan-head continued. "Why is it even here? Haven't you guys gone through these ruins and collected any of this stuff?"

"We never had a need to." Zoro stated matter of fact like. Only causing Nami's mouth to gape and her eyes to travel to someone else for explanation.

"Horo-horo-horo" Perona let out before addressing Nami. "When we first moved here we didn't really go treasure hunting much because of the baka monkeys making it too dangerous. And then as we got older we just didn't need to. Our father makes plenty of money as a freelancer for the government, and then between the success of the Grand Baratie and the Gothic Princess clothing line, we're pretty much set on money."

"So you guys are rich huh?" Nami asked getting a nod from the pinkette in return. "What about Zoro, what does he even do?"

"Well…" Perona let out a slightly disappointed sigh before continuing. "Technically both Sanji and I are in-debt to Zoro."

Perona's comments got a few snickers from some of the crew, and a "Don't remind me. Damn shitty-cyclops owns half my restaurant" from Sanji.

"Zoro used his bounty hunter money to help both Sanji and I to start our businesses, so he has 50% of both our companies share unless we buy him out." Perona explained in further detail. "The point is that we don't need any of the stuff that was left behind before we got here. You're welcome to it if it you have a use for it or if it will help you. I'm sure there is plenty more around if you want it."

The mikan-head couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had hit the jackpot; she was slightly concerned that they were only showing her pity, but pity or not, she needed this score, she couldn't pass it up. With Glee she lunged towards Perona and wrapped her arms around the pinkette. "Thank you, thank you, thank you…" She repeated over and over, almost feeling compelled to kiss the girl.

"Horo-horo-horo. Don't mention it, but I got an idea…" Perona began saying, causing Nami to look at her skeptically. "I'm sure that it will take some time for you to go through all these old buildings to search for the valuables. Why don't you stay at the castle with us for a while until you're finished?"

"What's the catch?" Nami asked, after all; there was always a catch right?

"You have to make Zoro help you. You'll need someone to help with the heavy lifting, which is pretty much all an un-cute brute like him is good for anyway."

"Oi, why the hell do I have to help this woman?! It's your idea for her to stay!" Zoro spat at his sister angrily.

"Because otherwise all you do is sit in the castle, train, drink, and get lost all day. It will be good for you to actually get out and do something, and actually be around other people instead of just bothering me and Sanji all the time." Perona told him in a lecturing tone. "Besides, it might be nice to have another woman around the castle for a bit."

"OWW! That's a SUPER idea goth-sis!" Franky put in his opinion. "Plus it will give me some extra time to work on your order while I fill a few others."

Nami didn't know what to say; she couldn't refuse the offer, that wasn't even an option, and she was sincerely grateful for the kindness they were showing, the problem lied in the fact that she couldn't find the words to express how grateful she was.

"So are you going to do it Nami, are you going to stay?" Luffy asked with hope obvious in his face. It wasn't just him who was hopeful, everyone had a similar look in their eyes (even the damn Humandrills that were lingering around still).

Her answer was obvious, even to her. "Yes, I'm going to stay." Luffy and company let out celebratory cheers of happiness at her answer. "But only until Franky has my boat finished and I've collected all the treasure in the ruins."

"Yosh!" Luffy belted out with vigor. "Nami is going to stay, she is going to be our navigator. Oi let's have a party to celebrate! Sanji! Cook some meat!"

Nami was going to protest Luffy's navigator comment, but she didn't have time because of the cook's furious response to the captain "We've been having a party this whole time, and you've already ate a week's worth of meat you gluttonous-rubber-bastard!" Besides that Zoro also grabbed Nami's arm to direct her attention onto him: the swordsman simply shook his head to tell her that trying to correct Luffy would be useless, he wouldn't listen anyway.

Nami took Zoro's silent advice and just sat back and enjoyed the celebration. She couldn't help but to take another look at the stoic swordsman though, and give him a thankful smile, he gave her an understanding nod of his own before going to get another mug of ale. Regardless of how much she tried, she still couldn't believe it: all the worrying she did about what she was going to do next, now felt like it had been for nothing, because as soon as she forgot her worries the solution presented itself. She let a quiet chuckle leave her lips at the absurdity of it all; even without realizing it, Zoro's advice had been right, all she had to do was quit worrying about it, and leave it… to luck.

**End Chapter 3 2/2: …to luck**

Author Notes and Translations:

* Kenbunshoku Haki: Observation Haki; Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy will all have it in this story, but it won't play a major part.

* The part about his swords having Haki is just a theory of mine: Haki literally translates to "ambition" so it isn't out of the realm of reason that the ambition placed into the swords by both Zoro and the previous owners would stay behind. The stuff about being able to see certain people's/item's Haki because of color is just kind of made up...

* I can't even begin to tell you how many different ways I've seen Shuusui spelt, so I had to go clear back into the Thriller Bark arc to see how it was originally translated, so as of now I will "try" to spell it as Shuusui ( and I'll try to spell Usopp's name right too: I always forget whether it is Usopp or Ussop ;p )

* Nani: Japanese for "What"… I think I've translated that before, but I thought I would just give a refresher

* The scene with Franky and company dancing with Humandrills was of course the scene from episode 418, just take out the old man, the kid, and the cyborg-dog, add the after time-skip Straw-Hat crew and the Humandrills, and you have just peered inside my twisted mind.

~ ~ ~ So… I guess I will apologize about not updating in over a month: some personal things came up that I needed to deal with first happened and reminded me of just how wonderful life can be at times.

Life really has a funny way of making you feel like you are floating 1000 feet in the air one moment, and then make you feel like it is hitting you over the head with a sack of bricks and screaming "HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW BITCH?"

After going on an amazing journey half way around the world to spend time with the most wonderful person in my life, I came back to find my house was broken into and 80% of my valuable possessions had been stolen. But ya know what? All it did was teach me that stuff is just stuff, and regardless of how much you enjoy and cherish it, stuff will only ever be stuff. Stuff can be replaced, life will move on, and this entire ordeal has only taught me to enjoy the important things in life that much more, so I am better for it.

I'll try to get back to writing regularly again and updating at least once a month now that I have done everything on my end to make the insurance company happy. But for now… Oh my word! All the ZoNa authors have been busy, I have like 10 stories that I need to read the updates on, and I'm going to get to each one of them ; }

As always: thank you so much for reading, and please review.

PS: To make up for the late update I made this one a little longer than originally intended. I might end up combining both part 3 1/2 and 3 2/2 later on.

Until next time

-fmdevil ;}


	5. Chapter 4

I don't really have anything to say here… except

I don't own One Piece

…

…

…

**Taking in a Stray Cat: Chapter 4**

Just over two weeks had passed since Nami had first stepped foot on Kuraigana Island and she was making great use of her time there. She had fallen into a nice rhythm: Every morning she would wake up, go to the kitchen and eat a breakfast that had been prepared by Sanji before the cook had left to go and oversee the restaurant operations, sometimes she would have company in the form of either Perona or very rarely Zoro, but for the most part she normally just enjoyed the quiet of the mornings with the daily newspaper. And then it would be off to look for the swordsman who was often wandering around aimlessly in the hallways or sleeping in the most unusual of places, and dragging him off to help her search for treasures in the ruins. And this day was no different.

The mikan-head had already finished breakfast and was searching the halls of the castle, trying to spot just the slightest hint of green in any of the numerous rooms she came across before finally coming across Perona's sowing room. "Oi Perona" Nami spoke to the pinkette-who had her head down as she was busy sketching new clothing designs "Where is he today?" Nami asked hoping that Perona could point her in the right direction as Perona usually kept an eye on her brother with her Ghost-Network.

"He just laid down in the Dining Room, looks like he is trying to take a nap under the dining table." The goth answered without ever looking up from what she was doing.

"Ugh… that baka sleeps in the weirdest of places." Nami grumbled before turning to leave Perona to her work without another word. Less than a minute later she was standing in the Dining Room, impatiently tapping her foot on the ground as she heard light snores coming from under the table when a sudden idea popped into her head "Zoro! Come quick! The Humandrills are stealing all the booze!" She screamed out quickly.

A loud "Thud" could be heard coming from the under-side of the hard-wood tabletop, only to be followed by a muffled stream of curses that was barely audible after the swordsman's head undoubtedly had connected with said tabletop. "Oh great, you're up" Nami said in a sing-songy voice "come on baka, it is time to get to work."

Zoro crawled out from underneath the table and stood facing the mikan-head, looming over her with a threatening glare "One of these days I'm going to make you pay for all the pain you cause me with some pain of your own witch." The swordsman said in an almost menacing voice.

But she showed no fear to his actions, in fact, it only caused her to form a playful smile on her face before answering him with "Sounds kinky, maybe we should skip the treasure hunting today and go down to your sister's and Sanji-kun's S&M room instead." Nami could barely contain her laughter as Zoro's ears turned bright red and his face flushed with a deep blush, she could tell he wanted to say something, anything to protest, but couldn't find the words in the horrified state he was in. "I'll take that as a no. Treasure hunting it is. Come on baka, daylights ticking."

As Nami turned to walk towards the exit, she had a smug look on her face as she could hear his footsteps falling in line behind her, and a mumbled "Damn witch" escape his mouth.

During the last two weeks there were days that no treasure hunting could be done because of rain and other bad weather; Nami normally used those days to read some of the several books in the library or have pleasant chats with Perona, Sanji, and even at times Zoro, well Zoro was in the room, but often times sleeping so there wasn't much chatting from him, during one of those chats Perona had let slip that the reason Zoro was particularly disturbed by the room in the basement was because he had once accidently wandered into it during one of Perona's and Sanji's private sessions, ever since he has been completely traumatized by the mere mention of the room, a fact that Nami has no quarrels in using to get him to succumb to her bossy demands… and just to tease him and get him to blush; she loved to watch him blush, it was 'cute' in her opinion.

Nami actually enjoyed the chats she had with the three residents of the castle, it was days like that when her life actually felt normal. She especially enjoyed learning about the swordsman; though there was still so much to know about him, she never really asked the questions, she just let Perona and Sanji fill in some of the blanks instead, the truth was regardless of how close she wanted to get to these people, especially Zoro, she still knew that she couldn't, eventually she was going to have to part with them all, so that is why she couldn't bring herself to ask the questions directly.

But today wasn't one of those days where she would be chatting anyway, today the sky was clear, well as clear as it got over Kuraigana, and there was treasure hunting to do. She was still a woman on a mission, and if her counting was correct, which it always was, than she still had another 10 million Beli worth of treasure she needed to gather… plus some for expenses… and some for shopping… and… well some just because; why leave it there if she was told she could have it right.

With Zoro who was now carrying a huge empty burlap sack still in tow; the two of them headed for the entrance of the castle to make their way to the ruins.

-0-0-0-0-

Sometimes Nami really hated the weather of the Grandline; regardless of how much she tried to predict it, it always proved impossible. Only two hours into today's treasure hunt the weather took a turn and decided to drop a nice little shower on them, causing them to go into the remains of an old house and look for shelter to wait out the storm.

There wasn't much left of the old building, the roof had rotted and collapsed long ago, but they were able to find a corner of the building that was dry and provided cover from the rain… but it was just barely big enough for the both of them. Nami of course made her way in first, getting as close to the wall as she possibly could, while Zoro dropped the bag of today's finds outside and followed soon afterwards. The mikan-head took notice as he left about 6 inches (15cm) between the two of them and placed his swords right in the middle. Though the swordsman's head and the half of his body closest to her was protected from the rain, his opposite shoulder and some of his leg weren't.

"Oi baka, you're getting wet" She told him with a slight hint of concern in her voice. "There is still more room, why don't you move over to get out of the rain?"

"I'm fine" Zoro said in a neutral voice as he rested the back of his head on the wall.

"Quit being a stubborn ass and just move closer, I'm not going to bite you."

"Tch" he responded defiantly and made no effort to move.

With a dissatisfied groan, Nami reached all the way over the swordsman and wrapped her hand in his quickly dampening yukata, and with a hard tug pulled him her way…

A tug that he honestly wasn't ready for. He lost his center of balance and fell towards her, he quickly put out his arm to stop the fall, expecting his hand to hit the hard surface of the wall that was behind Nami, but it hit something soft instead. Zoro thought he heard a muffled sound come from Nami, but in his slightly disorientated state wasn't sure. He tightened his grip on the soft surface his hand was resting on and noticed it had a somewhat pillow like feel to it, but his eye widened in surprise when his action caused a definitive "Squeak" from the mikan-head. He quickly looked at his hand and to his horror, realized that it was resting on her breast "Get your hand off me you hentai*!" She practically screamed into his ear.

He quickly pulled the hand from her chest like it was a piece of scolding metal but continued to hover over her for few moments confused with a deep blush on his face. He saw the furious look in her eyes and righted himself, before sitting back on the ground beside her, this time the gap being completely closed, and only his swords separating the two of them, he was too embarrassed to make eye contact with her, but could still feel her intense gaze upon him, causing him to mutter out a quiet "Sorry" as he crossed his arms over his chest and tried to look anywhere but towards her.

"Sorry…" Nami repeated back to him. "That's all you got to say after groping me? I'm charging you 100,000 Beli for that!"

That got Zoro's attention. "What… It wasn't my fault, you're the one who pulled me towards you witch!" He yelled back at her, this time making full eye contact and glaring back at her intensely.

"I was trying to be nice and get you out of the rain baka. I didn't think you would use the opportunity to try and force yourself onto me. If you don't pay up I'm going to have to tell Perona and Sanji-kun how you tried to have your way with me, as well as triple the price for all the mental anguish."

"Mental anguish my ass. Keep it up and you're not going to be able to tell a soul because I'll murder you right here in this damn hut and leave you to rot." He seethed at her through grit teeth.

"Oh, so now you're planning on covering up your crime? And by murdering a poor defenseless girl at that. How could you call yourself an honorable swordsman after planning something so cruel?" She teased with a mischievous smile across her face.

Zoro's face tensed in anger, he instinctively wanted to reach for a sword, but stopped himself, he instead chose to lean his head back against the wall and close his eye tightly before telling her "Do what you want you conniving witch, but you're not getting a damn Beli from me."

Nami couldn't help but let a small smile of triumph form on her face, because despite their arguing, the quick spat between them had eliminated any awkward tension in the air, and there was just something comforting about having the presence of his warm body so close to hers. She glanced at him and took note that he was feigning sleep already, but in the last two weeks she had learned to read his breathing patterns, some of his body language and other tells on when he was actually sleeping or not. She was good at things like that, at reading patterns, like the weather, but there were some things she couldn't read about him just be his breathing and body language; and that was regardless of how much she tried, she couldn't see him as the same Roronoa Zoro that she had heard about clear back in East Blue. She looked up at the sky through the holes in the roof to gauge the storm, and realized that they probably still had at least an hour before it cleared up. She promised herself that she would never ask too personal of questions to any of them, but with nothing but time on their hands until the storm cleared…

"Oi Zoro" She spoke up to grab his attention, betting an "Hmm" from him in response. "You're really him aren't you?"

"Eh…" he asked, genuinely confused.

"You really are the famous Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro aren't you?"

Zoro let out a big sigh before turning to meet her gaze. "I never really called myself that, but yeah, I guess."

"You're not what I imagined you know? I'm from East Blue. We have all heard stories about you there. How you just seemed to show up out of nowhere five years ago and started to take down big name pirates and bandits, one after the other, after the other. People used to say you were a blood thirsty monster, like you had a grudge against the pirates you went after, like you really hated them."

"It was nothing like that. The first time it was kind of all just by coincidence, I was hungry so I stopped into a pub, but I didn't have any money on me. Some asshole pirate was there giving the owner a hard time, and I ended up kicking his and the rest of his crew's asses. The owner was actually the one who explained to me that the guy had a bounty on his head and that I could collect it and that would give me some money to eat and get a place to stay for the night. After that I just started collecting bounties to eat and sleep…"

"And drink?" Nami asked teasingly.

"Of course." Zoro answered smugly. "Any money I had left over I just sent home, that way everyone knew I was ok. Before I knew it, I didn't even have to track down any of the bounties, they started to come to me. A lot of them claiming that they were either just striking first, or trying to make a name for themselves, but I found out it was something different. Some pirate had put a bounty on my head, and they were all trying to collect it, I didn't care though because it made my job easier, plus it was good fighting experience… and kind of fun."

"So what happened? Who put the bounty out on you, and how did you end up with Luffy and everyone?"

"I never really figured out who the pirate was, it was some fishman or something like that…" Nami's eyes widened in surprise and she seemed to get nervous for a moment, but Zoro didn't really notice because he was concentrating on recalling the events from two years ago. "As for how I met Luffy, well…"

"I had just turned in another bounty at Shells Town and was at the bar to eat and drink a little before I moved on to the next stop, then some stupid blond kid and his mangy mutt walked in and the mutt attacked a little girl so I killed it. How the hell was I supposed to know that the blond kid was the son of the main marine in town? I could have killed him and all of his little buddies, but that would have caused trouble for the town, so I struck a deal with the brat. The kid told me that all I had to do was stay tied to some stake for a month without food and water and he wouldn't take it out on the town, and about ten days or so in is when Luffy showed up with some pink haired kid begging me to join his pirate crew."

"So you joined him just like that?" Nami asked, over her initial shock after hearing the mention about the fishman pirate putting a bounty on Zoro's head.

"Nah, I told him to beat it. But he came back a couple of hours later and told me how the blond kid's dad was going to go back on the deal and execute me for the bounty that was on my head. Luffy busted me out of there, and then we kicked the blond kid's and his dad's ass, and then I just decided to join Luffy afterwards."

"It was just that simple? I mean you didn't care that he wanted to be a pirate?"

"Sure I was skeptical, even told him that if he got in my way of accomplishing my dreams that I would kill him…" Zoro gave her a devilish smirk after that admission "but there was just something about him, if anything else, I knew it would never be boring around him, and I was right."

"Everywhere we went after that, he just always seemed to get us into some kind of trouble. From a run in with a pirate that dressed like a clown, to some creep with glasses trying to terrorize Usopp's village, and then we ran into the ero-cook, I still don't know how or why Luffy talked him into joining us, but regardless, it was never boring. And once we hit the Grandline, it just got even crazier."

Nami watched as he talked about his adventures with Luffy, she found it actually amazing because the swordsman rarely talked, and even though nothing really seemed overly important, when he did talk it always felt like you had to listen, she could listen to him talk for hours, especially while he had that hint of a smile on his face. She could feel the smile creeping onto her face as well, almost as if she had enjoyed the adventures with him, she could tell that it was obviously one of the most enjoyable times of Zoro's life, but… "So why did you guys quit sailing? It's obvious that you were all having a great time."

"Hmph" Zoro confirmed with a nod before continuing "We reached our limits. We got to a point where we couldn't go any farther without getting stronger first. We were all beaten, and battered, and besides that, some things came up that some of us had to make a decision on right then and there, or we could just forget about them…"

"Like what kind of things, what could come up that would stop you guys from having all that fun?" She asked, genuinely curios. Nami hadn't had much joy in her life, she would give up a lot of things to have the type of memories that Zoro or anyone else in Luffy's crew was having while just being together.

"Well… life" Zoro said with just a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Luffy had a knack for judging people, it was like he knew that the people he asked to be in his crew were at a crossroads in their lives. Usopp was a liar and coward, living in some boring little village, who just wanted to do something big in his life. The cook was becoming content with being the number 2 chef at the Baratie, even though it was obvious he wanted more, he wanted to be number 1, as well as find some place called All Blue. Chopper, was a naïve kid who had already learned everything there was to learn about medicine from that old witch that taught him, he knew if he was ever going to know more, he would have to venture outside into the world, but was always too scared to until Luffy convinced him. Robin… well she was like a secretary for some criminal organization, she wanted to study history and go to travel and see ancient lost civilizations with her own eyes, and decided to tag along with us after we kicked the crap out of that organization because they pissed Luffy off. Franky was kind of this gang leader that just used to scrap ships, but he really wanted to build them, as well as get into robotics and crap like that, and Luffy inspired him to actually build a ship and to sail with us, as for Brook, he was just lonely…"

"Who's Brook?" Nami asked, not being familiar with anyone in their group with that name.

"Oh yeah, you haven't met him yet." Zoro said with a teasing all-knowing smirk on his face. "Brook is our musician, and he is just kind of one of those guys you'll have to meet to figure him out."

"What about you, what was your crossroads?"

"Hmm…" Zoro paused for a moment to think about it, he had never really considered that he was anything similar to the rest of them, but in that moment he realized he was. "I was bored. I was already better and stronger than most in East Blue, after all; I was trained by two master-swordsmen from the time I was just a little kid. I wasn't getting any stronger in East Blue, but at the same time I wasn't sure if I was just ready to pack it up and go home either. And then Luffy showed up, and it gave me the opportunity to keep looking for stronger opponents, to keep traveling to test just how strong I really was."

"So what were these important decisions that made you all stop your journey?"

"After just meeting Brook ourselves and everyone nearly getting killed on some huge creepy boat, we made it to Sabaody Archipelago and met a couple of heavy hitters that we realized we would be facing types like them in the New World, and we all realized we weren't ready. Luffy probably wanted to keep sailing on at first, but then we all started to get phone calls and letters from…"

~Flash Back~

Zoro was sitting at the bar of Shakky's Rip-off Bar with a bottle of sake in front of him, for once he was barely drinking, there was a depressing atmosphere in the room, and everyone was silent, even Luffy. They had barely made it off of Thriller Bark alive, and had seen firsthand some of the strength of other's either going to the New World, or those that would already be there. They all knew that this was as far as they could go at this point, but a few of them didn't want to admit it. And to make matters worse; Shakky had discretely handed Zoro a black envelope with his name written in pink letters on it, he instantly knew who it was from, and what it would be about. While no one was looking, he opened the letter to read it, it too was made out of black paper, and all the print on it was pink, it read…

_Dear Zoro:_

_Father has heard in detail what happened at Thriller Bark from his associate Bartholomew Kuma, and that you and your baka friends were causing trouble for both the World Government and uncle Moriah, how could you guys do that? I know he is not our real uncle and that you don't really like him, and blah… blah… blah… he has a great taste in fashion… blah… blah… blah… given me so many stuffed animals… blah… blah… blah… Well father is willing to forgive you because he isn't that fond of uncle Moriah either, but you should have saw how angry he was when Kuma told him what he had done to you, I thought father was going to cut his un-cute butt in half, regardless; father wants you to come home. He says you are not ready for the New World, and that you will just be getting yourself killed if you attempt to go any farther. Please come home Zoro, you are an un-cute baka, but you are still my little brother, and I can't imagine losing you too, not after losing mother, and even though father would never admit it aloud, he would be devastated if he were to lose you as well._

_Sincerely, your loving and most cutest and darling older sister in the whole world:_

_Perona_

Zoro crumpled the letter and threw it in a nearby trash can with frustration clearly written on his face; he wasn't frustrated because he was being requested to come home, he was frustrated because the letter was right.

"What do we do from here guys?" Usopp questioned, getting a look from everyone in the room except for Zoro. "We can't keep going like this. Zoro almost didn't make it last time, and it is just going to get more dangerous, and…" The long-nose paused, he had something important to say, and everyone knew it, but he wasn't sure if he should say it.

"What is Sniper-kun?" Robin asked, despite honestly knowing the truth, but wanted to give him the reassurance that it was alright to say.

"Well… you know that letter that got delivered to me a couple of weeks ago while we were in Water's 7. It was from a college I applied to." This statement got the full attention of everyone. "I got accepted, they have classes open for both Plant Biology and Creative Writing, but… The classes start in a little under a month, and I'm not sure I'll be able to get in next semester, so if I skip it now… I may never get the chance to go again." Usopp was visibly distraught, it was clear that he didn't want to disappoint anyone, but it was also obvious that he really wanted to go.

"I um…" Chopper started to speak very nervously. "I got a letter of acceptance to a famous Med-School too." The young doctor was blushing deeply as the eyes went onto him. "It is a new two year program, very advanced, I could learn more in two years than I have the entire time I was under Doctorine*."

Everyone heard a light chuckle come from Robin before turning their attention to her. "Well I guess we should all come clean about what we've been hiding from each other than shouldn't we? I too have an opportunity that I can't pass up. Luffy's father's company is sponsoring a large archeological dig and has invited me to lead it, it should take just around 18 months to complete the dig. How about you Franky, don't you have something to tell everyone?"

"Oi, Nico Robin, if you are talking about our relationship…" A couple of hands quickly formed on each of Franky's shoulders and covered his mouth so he couldn't finish that sentence. Getting a confused look from most of the crew… especially Sanji.

"No Franky, the other thing." Robin told him with a coldly, causing his eyes to widen in realization. With his now aware look on his face, Robin let her hands disappear so he could continue.

"Oh yeah, that." He stared while scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Well Mugiwara, I kind of got this chance to go be an apprentice for Dr. Vega Punk. He is getting older and looking for someone to pass on some of his knowledge to about advanced robotics and has taken interest in me because I'm a SUPER cyborg and all. It is a super chance to improve my weapons designs and make a name for myself as a master mechanic and shipwright, but it is a super small window of opportunity, I actually only have a couple of more days to respond."

"I can't thank you enough for taking me out of that dark place Luffy-san and everyone, but… I myself would like to see the world as it is now, it has been quite some time since I have even got to be in the sun, and now I would like to be in the spotlight. I would love to do some traveling and let people hear my music… and see lots of panties. Yohohoho!" Brook said excitedly.

Everyone turned their attention to Sanji, he had been in an unusual mood for weeks, and he wasn't even as flirtatious with Robin or other women as of late, something was weighing heavily on his mind. "Kamabakka Culinary School" He said as he took a final drag from a cigarette and put it out in the ashtray on top of the bar.

"Tch" Zoro sounded off only a couple of feet away. "That all-men's cooking school for pansies and okama that don't want to do real men's work? Figures…"

"Oi, what are trying to say you shitty marimo?"

"Only that you'll fit in great there. They'll have you prancing around in a dress and picking daisies in less than a month." Despite his words to try and rile his rival into a fight, Zoro was obviously not too into getting into a squabble himself, and didn't even bother to try and make eye contact with the cook or get into a fighting position, he merely kept his eyes on the bottle of sake in front of him that he still just didn't feel up to drinking. The fact was; Zoro didn't like the mood that was floating around in the room, and was only trying to bring a sense of something familiar to everyone to try and alleviate some of the depressing atmosphere.

But Sanji did not take the bait, instead he pulled another cigarette from his jacket and lit it to calm his nerves. "I'm not too happy about it being an all-men's school either, but… it is one of the greatest cooking schools in the entire world, and the only one even comparable is an all-women's school… _and they told me they wouldn't make an exception_" he mumbled the last part "it is a chance to really increase my skills as a chef, and to show that old coot back in East Blue who number 1 really is. I can't pass it up."

The room was continuing to get thick with depression, and everyone could feel it. "What about you kenshi-san? Is there something that you need to make a decision on? Something you are keeping from us?" Robin asked, causing all eyes to turn to Zoro.

The swordsman kept his own gaze off of everyone else, only on the bottle in front of him that he was now playing with in his hand. "They want me to come home." His statement was short and to the point, so much so that it was confusing to some of the other people in the room.

"Who wants you to come home swords-bro?" The cyborg asked.

"My family… my sister and father. They think I'm too weak to go to the New-World."

"That's not true Zoro, you're one of the strongest people I have ever met." Chopper told him, trying to reassure him but…

"They're right" He said firmly. "I am too weak to go any further… we all are."

"So what are you saying Zoro? That this is as far as we go? That we're not good enough to go any farther anyway so we should just quit?" Usopp questioned, but it was more to just see if Zoro was thinking the same thing he was.

"That's not for me to decide. I'm just the first mate, I follow orders, and I will follow the orders of my captain."

"Hmmm…" Luffy sounded off, breaking his unusual silence. "Zoro's right, we're not strong enough to go any farther, not right now. We need to get stronger, we need to learn more." Luffy had everyone's attention, loud and clear. "Everyone should go do those things that they want to do. Learn as much as they can, get stronger, and then we should all meet up back here, when everyone feels that they are ready to sail again."

"So what are you going to do Luffy?" Usopp asked.

"Hmm… Oi Rayleigh, can you train me?" He asked the older gentleman who had been sitting at the end of the bar quietly drinking the entire time.

Rayleigh was an old friend of Luffy's father, and a direct descendent of a famous pirate, Gol D. Roger. He was also an expert in all three forms of Haki and once a very dangerous pirate himself, but he used his fortune to go into business with Shakky and retire long ago. "If you think you can handle my training, then absolutely."

"Shishishi" Luffy's face took on a huge smile at the idea of being trained by a living legend, they had all had a plan, the only one they weren't sure on was "So what are you going to do Zoro?"

"I'm going to go home, and then train under a master swordsman. Will you wait for me to decide when I'm ready captain?"

"Of course" Luffy said confidently. "Yosh, so it is settled, everyone is going to take a break for a bit and get stronger and smarter, and better! And then, we are all going to meet up back here to head for the New World once we're ready. But before we split up… let's have a party!" The entire crew couldn't help but let smiles form on their faces, and some even joined in Luffy's excited attitude, he always had a way of making everyone happy even during sadder and more depressing times. "Oi Sanji! Cook the meat!"

So the crew had partied well into the night and next day, they partied like there was no tomorrow because they knew it would be a while before they saw each other again. After the partying was over, they all parted ways: some going off with others until they went their own way, Robin and Franky were the first to leave together, and then Usopp and Chopper soon afterwards, Brook left on his own, but not before a lively (despite already being dead) "Yohohoho". Sanji and Zoro were the last to leave; with the cook offering to escort the swordsman to make sure that Zoro would get to his destination without getting lost because he had the most time before having to be at his desired destination. Zoro could still remember the expression on Luffy's face as they left him at the dock, as sad as the departing was, the Straw-hat wearing teen's smile never faltered as he waved them off excitedly with Rayleigh standing nearby in the background.

~End Flash Back~

"So…" Nami said quietly after hearing Zoro's story of how they all separated. "Why haven't you guys met back up at Sabaody Archipelago and began sailing again? What are you all waiting for?"

"They're waiting on me. I don't think I'm strong enough yet. And besides that, they've all got things going on in their lives now: The cook has the restaurant and Perona, Franky has his ship building company, and despite the fact neither of them has confirmed it, him and Robin are practically married, Brook has his music career, and Luffy… well Luffy is just Luffy; he bounces around place to place visiting everyone and occasionally drags someone with him to go see another, his dad is loaded so Luffy doesn't really have to worry about anything, and he is just always looking for that next adventure, or party to have for no reason."

"What do you have in your life Zoro?" She couldn't help but ask.

"My ambition. I'm going to be the best swordsman in the world, and until I feel like I am truly a step closer to becoming the best, I need to continue my training. Nothing else matters to me." Zoro settled his head back against the wall and shifted to get into a slightly more comfortable position. "Wake me when the rain is over, I'm going to take a nap."

Nami said nothing as she watched him close his eye and settle in, she looked to the sky to gauge the weather again, and noticed that the storm was beginning to clear, but it would still take about another half hour. She could hear the swordsman's steady breathing to confirm that he was indeed asleep this time, leaving her nothing to do but be lost in her own thoughts. Her main thoughts being about some of his words '_my ambition_' and '_nothing else matters to me_'. In so many ways this man was similar to her, for she too had an ambition that she must accomplish above all else, but at the same time, she couldn't help but let her fondness for the man sitting beside her continue to grow, a fondness that she so badly wanted to ignore, but knew it was becoming impossible to do so…

-0-0-0-0-

The weather had cleared pretty quickly afterwards, but it was still just wet enough to cause the moss covered stone walkways to become slick, and for items to become slippery, making it harder to search the ruins for treasure. But Nami would not be deterred, even covered in mud with her hair sticking to the side of her face she kept on looking for that next piece of treasure that would make todays hunt worth it. For the most part all they had found that day was mainly some old silverware and some old candle holders, not a bad haul, but the mikan-head still thought they should keep looking.

"Dammit woman" Zoro chided "This is stupid. It is soaking wet out here and this damn bag is already full, let's just head back and look for more tomorrow."

"Quit complaining Zoro" Nami quickly snapped back at him, fighting to find her footing on a slick stone. "You're supposed to be the man here. What's wrong, is the bag getting too heavy for you?"

"Tch" He sounded in response. "This is nothing for me, I could carry this all day. But you're going to slip and hurt yourself and I'm not going to carry your ass all the way back to the castle, you got that?"

"I'm not satisfied yet, let's just look over this way." Nami pointed ahead towards an area where the walkway they were on seemed to drop off and continued to walk that way stubbornly. She was irritated that the swordsman had done nothing but complain and give her a hard time since she had woken him up from his nap after the rain had ended, sure she didn't have to scream into his ear to wake him up, nor twist his ear when she did so, but sometimes he was hard to wake up, so she felt she was justified in doing so. To top it off with her recent realization that she could actually be having feelings for this brute made her desperate for a distraction, and what better distraction than treasure?

Zoro continued to watch as she struggled to keep her footing in several places. "No woman, we're heading back, we'll cover that area tomorrow." He was starting to get agitated, he knew she was stubborn from all the time he had been around her these last two weeks, but this was getting ridiculous.

"Just come on Zoro, it's just down these stairs over here…" Nami noticed the swordsman freeze for a moment and a look of terror come over his face, she quickly scanned the area to see if there were any Humandrills nearby and when she didn't see any she just continued towards the steps. "What's your problem? You act like you've seen a ghost or some…" As her foot made contact with the top step, it slipped out from underneath her because of the slick moss. She started to fall forward; she desperately started swinging her arms to try and reverse the momentum. She heard a crash behind her, but made no effort to turn to see what it was. Regardless of how much she tried to reverse her momentum, it was to no avail, she was going down, and she was sure this was going to hurt. She closed her eyes and winced, waiting for the contact of her flesh against hard concrete…

But it never came. Instead she found herself still standing on top of the stairs, her body pressed firmly into the warm flesh of Zoro's and his arms wrapped tightly around her. She let out a sigh of relief as she looked up at her would be savior. "Thank you Zoro" she said genuinely as her gaze met his face… only to find that his normal stoic or grumpy expression was replaced with one of fear. His breathing was heavy, and Nami could tell it wasn't from the run to stop her from falling, he had been honestly afraid of something, he had been afraid of her falling down the stairs, and Nami knew it.

"Zo… Zoro, it's… it's ok, I'm alright, you can let… me…" Her words of reassurance were cut off as he leaned his head closer to hers. She was completely speechless as she noticed the new look on his face, the fear was still there but there was another look as well, a look of need. She quickly realized what the need was as he turned his head to line his lips up with her own, part of her wanted to stop him, but that part wasn't what was in control at the moment. Her fingers found their way to his yukata before wrapping themselves into it, she wet her lips as his were closing the gap with hers, first inches, and now only centimeters, all he had to do was close the gap, and she would let him…

But he never did. Instead something else drew his attention, as she turned her head to see what it was that did, she was shocked to say the least. There, only a few yards away, was two Humandrills: they were in the exact same position that Zoro and Nami found themselves in, but the most disturbing part was the one that Nami at least believed to be the male of the two, was dressed in an old and tattered black suit that was too small for the animal, and his eyes had been completely replaced by hearts as it leaned in for a kiss from the other, possibly female, monkey.

Nami turned her head back to look at Zoro's expression; it was still one of need, but not the need for her lips, it was the need for violence as he was visibly seething between his grit teeth. "Are you mocking me you damn ero-monkey?" The swordsman quickly stood her upright, several feet away from the stairs, and dashed towards the suit clad Humandrill with two of his swords drawn. The mikan-head could only watch in confusion as he begun sparring with the animal, in a similar fashion to what him and Sanji normally do. At times Zoro would even let out a stream of curses after the Humandrill would squeak and squawk at him, almost as if Zoro could understand the insults.

Nami slapped her hand against her forehead before letting out a dissatisfied "Men" combined with a groan. She heard a similar groan beside her and turned her head to see the female Humandrill imitating her actions. She gave the monkey a dark stare, but made no other attempts to show her displeasure. After all, she couldn't be too mad at the monkey, when she was honestly mad at herself. She was in complete disbelief; Zoro had almost kissed her, she wasn't sure why he had, but she did know that she made no effort to stop him. She wanted it to happen, she wanted it badly. She should be mad at him, furious, but she couldn't be… until she looked over at the sack of her treasure that had been thrown to the ground and was now spilled across the stone walkway. "MY TREASURE! ZORO! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

**End Chapter 4**

Author Notes and Translations

Hentai*: A Japanese term to describe perversion or abnormality: in this case Nami was calling Zoro a pervert.

Yosh! A new chapter in less than 30 days. Yes, I am easily pleased with myself ;-]

Well you all know the drill by now… thank you so much for reading and please review ;-}


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

…

…

**Taking in a Stray Cat: Chapter 5**

Perona, like her brother, was almost an expert at hiding certain sides of herself, mainly her compassionate side: it was a side she reserved for few people, one such person was her husband Sanji. Though his fondness of all women was at times annoying and other times frustrating to the point of murderous thoughts, his devotion to her and the people who were like family to him was an admirable trait that she found herself drawn to, and even loved. She also knew that even though he was quite flirtatious at times, he would never betray her love. So she felt comfortable enough around him to let her softer side show from time to time, at least while they were in private. This was one of those times.

Sanji had returned from the restaurant shortly after noon, it was a quiet day at the restaurant with no high profile clients that he needed to cater to personally, nor were there any beautiful women that he thought deserved special treatment, so he chose to make his leave a little earlier than usual. And with Zoro and Nami still out treasure hunting; the castle was left for them to enjoy some privacy together. The husband and wife duo were enjoying their quiet intimate moment in a large social room of the castle that connected to the main hall. The nearby fireplace was freshly stocked with fresh firewood, and the couple just sat and watched the flames from a comfortable couch as Sanji's head lay in Perona's lap and the goth twirled the cook's bangs around her finger and hummed a soft tune.

"Aw Perona-fawn" Sanji half sung in a low content voice. "Only you could ever make me feel this way my love."

The pinkette was going to respond to her husband sweetly but was cut off as they heard the main door open and loud arguing filling the main hall. For the most part the arguing was inaudible until the arguing duo got closer to the entrance of the social room.

"Where the hell do you think you're going baka? I'm not done with you yet!" The mikan-head screamed from out of view, as Zoro walked in front of the door to the room, causing both Perona and Sanji to look over the back of the couch in curiosity. "I'm going upstairs to train before I beat some greedy witch to death with her bag of treasure." Perona felt Sanji's body tense next to her as he undoubtedly wanted to confront his rival for being so rude to a lady, but Sanji did pause in his action, probably for the same reason she couldn't find any words at the time; Zoro's clothes were torn a little and covered in mud, he also had several fresh bruises across his face as well as several large lumps on top of his head.

"Oh, and how are you going to get there, you'll get lost before you even make it to the stairs." Nami said as she came into view, she too was covered in mud and dirt, but otherwise completely unharmed. "Now take that treasure up to my room and maybe I'll be nice enough to show you the way."

The couple on the couch watched as Zoro loomed over her and glared down at her with a serious expression on his face, but if Nami was intimidated, she showed no signs of it. There was an awkward silence building until Zoro finally spoke again. "Haul this crap to your room yourself." Zoro let go of the bag that he was carrying over his shoulder and let it hit the castle floor with a loud clatter, startling everyone besides himself from the noise, before turning and heading directly to the stairs. The three onlookers watched on in silence, the married couple watching Nami, and the mikan-head watching Zoro with her mouth open wide in surprise as his footsteps started to fade out of hearing, in the actual right direction*. "Oi! You damn barbarian! Get your ass back here and pick up this treasure before I kick your ass again!" Nami screamed pointlessly as he was already gone.

With Zoro gone and the initial shock worn off "Nami-swan! It is so good to see you my sweet, I missed you!" Sanji sang excitedly as he sprung upright and hopped over the back of the couch and headed towards her with his arms stretched out wide to embrace her in a hug.

Nami's eyes opened wide as she saw the cook heading towards her, but was even more surprised when a white ghost came out of his stomach and Sanji fell forward to the floor on his hands and knees with a dark cloud over his head before mumbling something about "I wish I could be reborn a fly only to be swatted" after a very irritated Perona sent a negative hollow through him for completely killing their romantic mood.

"Tch, jackass" the pinkette seethed through her teeth with her arms crossed in front of her chest "and just as we were starting to get comfortable."

"I… I'm sorry Perona. I didn't see you guys there. I didn't mean to interrupt you and Sanji-kun's alone time." Nami apologized sincerely.

"Oh don't worry about it" Perona said dismissively. "I'm honestly used to this kind of thing. But why are you guys back so soon? Are you already done treasure hunting for the day? And what happened to you guys, you're both a mess, especially Zoro?"

Nami let her head drop a little in defeat as she entered the room and went to sit over by Perona. "Well… we got caught in the storm and that's why we're all dirty, and then something happened and Zoro insisted we stop and come back for the day."

"Horo-horo-horo" Perona started laughing, the other woman in front of her really was a sight between the dirt and the conflicted look on her face. "Did that something involve you beating the crap out of him? Is that why he had all those fresh lumps?"

A small pout formed on Nami's face as the pinkette continued to laugh. "That wasn't all me that did that to him… _I just started it_" she mumbled the second part under her breath "it was a Humandrill that was mimicking me that continued it*."

"BUAHAHAHA!" Sanji bellowed out after finally regaining his composure from Perona's attack, before taking a seat on the back of the couch right behind the two ladies. "So the marimo got his ass kicked by a stupid monkey and that is why he is sulking?"

"That… and something right before that." The married couple both leaned in a little with curiosity, waiting for her to continue. "He kind of freaked out after I almost fell down some stairs." Her words caused both Sanji and Perona to become deathly silent, they shared a quick, knowing, look with each other before Nami's voice brought their attention back to her. "I think he is most mad about the fact that he had been telling me that we should head back before the stairs incident even happened because of how slippery it was and I wouldn't listen to him, if he hadn't have caught me I would have been in a world of pain. I don't know… there was just something about the look in his eyes after it happened. I think he was honestly scared or something." Nami rubbed the back of her neck as if it was sore, and cringed a little from the feeling of the dirt on her hands rubbing against her skin before deciding to stop her rubbing and address the other woman beside her. "He's your brother, so maybe you know. What is up with him and stairs, he obviously doesn't like them?"

A sorrowful look fell over Perona's face and she couldn't help but feel like she had to avert her gaze from the mikan-head. Sanji placed his hand on Perona's shoulder and gave it a small reassuring rub to comfort her obvious sadness. The pinkette heard Nami let out a small "gasp" before the mikan-head continued. "I'm… I'm so sorry Perona. I don't mean to dig up bad memories, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Nami tried to reassure, but only got a quick shake of the head from Perona to confirm that it was alright.

The goth reached her own hand up to place it on Sanji's before looking up at him. "Sanji, could you go make us something warm to drink, like some hot chocolate, with plenty of marshmallows, while I tell Nami what she wants to know."

"Of course Perona-fawn. It would be my honor." Sanji leaned down to give his wife a quick kiss on the top of her head before making his exit.

"It is because of our mother." Perona told her softly. "She fell down a flight of stairs and broke her neck. Zoro took it pretty hard, even more so than me." Nami covered her mouth in shock, she couldn't believe that she had asked something so personal, nor that Perona was going to tell it to her, after all; until just two weeks ago she was a complete stranger.

"Zoro wasn't always the guy he is now" Perona continued "Believe it or not he was actually kind of cute when he was a kid. He used to not be so serious, he truly loved sword fighting, and it brought the biggest smile to his face when he watched it. Both our mother and our father were sword fighters, but father never wanted Zoro to have anything to do with it, but mother used to teach him secretly. So naturally Zoro adored her, almost to the point of worship, he even took on her name instead of father's name. Roronoa Kuina…"

Nami's eyes widened at the name, she couldn't' believe that she had never put the pieces together. Knowing treasure she had already known that Zoro's white sword the Wado Ichimonji had belonged to a beautiful female swordsman, but she had never even stopped to consider that it could have been Zoro's mother. She couldn't help but feel a huge stab of quilt to her heart, knowing that she had once intended to sell something so precious to him.

"…She was so strong and a prodigy as well. She wanted to be the best swordsman in the world, and that is what drove her and father together in the first place: father couldn't help but love her for her strength and ambition, and the next thing they knew he was marrying a woman who was after his head and title. And then…" Perona paused a little, Nami could see tears fighting to well up in Perona's eyes, she wanted to do something to comfort her, but didn't know what. Luckily for her Sanji made his reappearance with a tray of hot chocolate.

"Here you are Perona-fawn" He said in a low sweet tone as he handed her a cup, letting his hands rest on hers for just a moment longer than needed "Made just the way you like it. And one for you as well Nami-san."

"Thank you Sanji-kun" Nami said politely while taking the mug. "If it is getting too hard for you, you don't have to continue Perona."

"It's okay, it's nice to talk about her from time to time… besides, it reminds us of why Zoro is the way he is." She took a moment to take a sip of the warm liquid out of the cup as Sanji went and repositioned himself next to the doorway and lit a cigarette. "Regardless of how strong our mother was, it was all over in the blink of an eye. She and Zoro had just finished one of their training sessions while father and I were away shopping, they were both walking up the stairs to go and put their swords away before father and I had returned, and then mother slipped at the top of the stairs and fell backwards. Zoro watched the whole thing happen."

A single tear escaped Perona's eyes as she buried her face into the comfort of her hot chocolate mug. Nami had to fight back her own tears as she processed the information the pinkette had divulged. Nami chanced a glance over at Sanji still in the doorway, the mikan-head had actually found it unusual that Sanji had been rather quiet the entire time, and she noticed a really faraway look in his eye.

Perona let out a big sigh before continuing. "When father and I had returned we found mother lying at the base of the stairs with Zoro sitting next to her crying, he had been there for hours, never leaving her side."

Nami found herself speechless, she couldn't believe that Perona, and especially Zoro, had been through so much in their lives, they don't act like people who have been affected by tragedy, but in the same sense, neither does she herself. "Did this all happen here, in this castle?" Nami asked, almost biting her tongue after the question slipped.

"No, we're originally from Shimotsuki Village in East Blue and lived at Grandpa Koshiro's Dojo. We didn't move here until 12 years ago, right after the accident happened. I don't think father could bare being there knowing that was the place mother died."

"So was the move hard on you guys?"

"It was on me, as for Zoro… it was hard to tell, he barely said anything back then, barely spoke a word unless asked a direct question, I had never seen another nine year old boy so serious… and then one day he broke his silence…"

~Flashback~

A nine year old Zoro sat on his knees on the floor of the large study in the castle that he was told would be his new home only a few days before, his head was bowed all the way to the floor, not making eye contact with the male figure of his father sitting in his red-leather chair in-front of the boy. Perona stood to the side, confused at what was transpiring in-front of her.

"Teach me the way of the sword." Zoro spoke firmly but respectfully.

"Why" his father spoke, tightening his grip around the sheath of Wado Ichimonji that he was holding firmly in his hand.

"So I can take your head."

Perona gasped at Zoro's answer, she thought for sure that it would cause their father to go into a fit of anger, but it didn't, he only remained silent, waiting for his son to continue.

"I wish to make her dream my own. I promised her that one of us will become the greatest swordsman in the world, and with her gone I have to do it. I will become so great that the name Roronoa will reach the heavens themselves so she will know that I fulfilled my promise and both of our dreams. And I will do it with her sword."

Zoro raised his head and body to look at his father, with his gaze serious and unwavering, but he did not stand from his kneeling position. The silence in the room was deafening. Perona wanted to say something as she could feel the tension in the air and wanted to lessen it, but the silence was broken by a huge fit of laughter from their father.

"Wahhahhahha… Kukukuku… My own son is asking me to train him to take my head and title. You loved your mother that much did you?" The man in the chair never removed his gaze off the boy, nor the Zoro's gaze falter from him. Perona's eyes widened in complete shock as her father tossed their mother's beloved sword towards Zoro for him to catch it. "I expect you to make your mother proud. We begin training tomorrow."

~End Flashback~

Any sadness in Perona's eyes had completely disappeared and was overtaken with pride and love. Nami could tell that the pinkette loved telling that story. She loved that her brother was continuing their mother's dream in her stead. Nami took another glance over at Sanji and his faraway look was also replaced, he had a prideful smile across his lips which Nami knew exactly what it meant: the cook would never admit it, but the fact that Zoro's life was so driven by a promise that he had made to a woman, albeit his mother, was something Sanji couldn't help but respect.

Nami felt a smile creep onto her own lips, the swordsman was really a remarkable person and she knew that story was only going to make her fonder of him, but she was beginning to no longer care that she was starting to have these feelings. The realization did bring a small blush to her face that she could feel and caused her to look down towards her hands still holding the now empty mug. She noticed that her hands were still quite dirty and reminded her of how she must have still looked.

"I just realized how I must look right now." She said sheepishly. "I really need to take a shower and get these clothes in the wash. Sanji-kun; could you take my treasure up to my room while I'm getting cleaned up?"

"Of course I can Nami-san. It would be my honor." The cook said with a polite bow.

"Thank you Sanji-kun… and thank you for the story Perona." Nami stood to leave and gave a small nod of appreciation to her host. Perona gave her a quiet smile of her own before the mikan-head made her leave to head for the stairs.

-0-0-0-0-

After a quick stop by her room to get a change of clothes Nami proceeded to the bathroom. She placed the fresh change of clothes, and a fresh bath towel on a shelf right next to the shower stall, before she quickly disrobed out of her filthy clothes, and threw them in a nearby laundry basket, making a mental note to take them to the laundry as soon as she was cleaned up. Once ready she opened the frosted glass door to the shower stall and stepped inside, eager to let the clean hot water wash away the filth and grime covering her from the earlier treasure hunt.

She reveled in the feeling of the clean water falling over her body and almost collapsed against the shower wall in content. Her mind couldn't help but wander to the moment she had earlier with Zoro, the moment where he had almost kissed her. She thought about his lips, and how she didn't fight them coming towards her, how she wanted them on hers. She wondered if she would get the opportunity to kiss them again, and would she still want them; she knew the answer, she knew that if he ever wanted to kiss her again… that she would want it too. She was so lost in thought she almost hadn't noticed the door to the bathroom open.

"Hello" she called out from behind the frosted glass, curious to know who was on the other side.

"Don't worry" a female voice spoke "it's just me." Perona reassured her.

Nami let out the nervous breath she was holding in, relieved that it wasn't either of the two male residents currently in the castle. "What's going on Perona, did you need something?"

"No, I just thought I would come in and take your dirty clothes to the laundry so that we could get them cleaned up as fast as possible."

"You didn't have to bother with that Perona, I could have done that once I got out of the shower."

"Horo-horo-horo… It's no bother at all." Nami noticed that there was something just slightly different about Perona's laugh from usual, but had no time to think about it as the pinkette continued her explanation. "I'm used to having to do laundry anyway, especially with those two baka always getting dirty while fighting each other. You just take your time and enjoy your shower." Nami heard Perona start to walk towards the exit and the bathroom door shut securely behind the pinkette after leaving. Nami just shrugged off Perona's actions and went back to her shower.

-0-0-0-0-

In the ballroom/dojo: Zoro had just finished his workout, feeling a lot less irritated now that he had worked up a nice sweat. Training was always great therapy for Zoro, it gave him time to think, time to process things, even things that he didn't quite understand… like why he had almost kissed Nami. He had known something was different about her from the moment he first met her; sure he had wanted to choke the life out of her for attempting to steal his sword, and then wanted to throw her off the balcony, and he couldn't count the times he wanted to pummel her to death in these last two weeks for how much her bossy/selfish/manipulative ways got under his skin, but there was something that had also drawn him to her. It was the fight in her eyes, even when he had her dead to rights, all he had to do was tighten his grip and crush her throat; she hadn't quit fighting. When he was going to throw her off the balcony, she kept struggling, even offering herself to him in exchange for safety, and though he would never admit it aloud, he was tempted to take her up on that offer, but he also knew the offer was false, that it was a ploy to buy herself sometime and escape.

The woman was passionate, and determined to complete whatever it was that she had set out to complete. The swordsman could tell almost from the moment he had met her, that she had made a promise to someone, and she was going to keep it. He respected that about her, and even found himself just wanting to stay close to her, and when she almost fell down the stairs earlier he felt his heart stop, he felt that he was losing something precious to him, all over again. He knew that the reason he almost kissed her was to show her how precious she was becoming to him, he wanted to claim her, wanted to make her his, and if it wasn't for that damn monkey… he would have.

To some degree he was thankful for the monkey distracting him, because he is not supposed to claim her; she isn't a pet, she isn't a possession, she is a human being, one that has a goal, she will eventually leave them all behind to go and complete her goal, she will have to leave him behind, and it would be selfish of him to try and keep her despite knowing this. Besides… he has a goal of his own, he has a promise to keep, and he can't be distracted by these types of thoughts.

He was already so distracted by them that he almost didn't notice his sister enter the room behind him. "What is it Perona?"

"I'm going to do a load of laundry, and the clothes you're wearing are filthy and need repaired." She spoke firmly to make sure that she was going to get her point across. "Take them off and I'll do them now too."

"Eh…" He said with a confused look on his face. "What, right now?"

"Yes right now baka. The sooner the better before those stains set in and you do anymore damage to them. So strip, and I mean all of them. You only have a few pairs of underwear as is, we can't let them get too ruined before we can get you more."

"Hell no!" Zoro said with a blush forming on his face.

"Quit being such an un-cute oversized baby. It isn't like I've never seen you naked before baka, I am your sister after all, or should I remind you that we used to bathe together?"

"That was over fifteen years ago Perona! We're not little kids anymore!"

"Oh fine, here is a towel, and I'll turn around." She grabbed a clean towel from the laundry basket under her arm, Zoro also noticed several other clothes in the basket, some looking like the dirty ones Nami had been wearing earlier, while there were also some clothes that looked clean and were still folded. Perona shoved the clean towel into his chest and gave him a threatening look. "And after that you're going to jump into the shower because you are not coming down to eat looking and smelling like that, do I make myself clear?"

"Dammit Perona, I've already put up with one demanding and bossy witch today, and I don't feel like putting up with your shit right now too. Back off before I…"

"Before you what?" The ghost princess gave him a stern glare to show that not only she wasn't concerned over his possible threat, but she wasn't going to back down either. "You're going to do it, because if you don't, I'm going to throw away every bit of your clothes and then you're going to have to wear whatever clothes I make for you." An evil smile over took his sister's face as she continued to glare up at him. "Do I need to get out the Kumashi Costume for you again?"*

Zoro's entire body tensed up and his face started to turn bright red in anger, he looked as if he could explode at any moment… but he didn't explode, he simply grit his teeth and spoke through them, "Just turn around dammit."

Perona turned her back towards him while the swordsman got undressed, all the while mumbling silent curses under his breath about murdering everyone in the castle. His curses were only met by the sound of his sister's trademark "Horo-horo-horo…" as she remained with her back towards him. He found it almost ironic that he would actually prefer the cook's company right about now over either of the two bossy women in the castle. After getting completely undressed and wrapping the towel his sister had given him around his lower half he barked out a quick "Here" as he thrust his pile of filthy clothes at her. She turned back towards him with a triumphant smile on her face and took his clothes from him eagerly… almost too eagerly if you asked Zoro.

Zoro reached for his swords before he was stopped by her. "Just leave those there and come back to get them later."

"Why should I?"

"You don't need them in the bathroom, besides; the steam and the moisture probably isn't good for them right? Now quit standing there and get your un-cute butt in the shower. Unless you want to hear Sanji complaining about you taking too long to get down to dinner." Perona then quickly got behind him, and with her free hand not carrying the laundry basket started pushing him towards the hallway. Zoro had little time to protest as he was already out the door and moving towards the bathroom with Perona hot on his heals the whole way.

-0-0-0-0-

As Nami exited the shower stall she let out a huge sigh of relief. There was just something always calming about stepping out of a nice hot shower, especially after washing away all the dirt that she had been covered with. She wiped the steam off of the bathroom mirror to look at her reflection and was pleased with what she saw; the girl who had stepped into the shower was gone, and she felt like a whole new person. She found a couple of hair-pins that she had set next to the sink and quickly pulled her hair back and out of the way before turning to get a towel and her fresh change of clothes… but was soon confused when she found neither. In fact; there was nothing to cover herself with in the bathroom: no clean or dirty towels, no fresh change of clothes, not even her dirty clothes, there wasn't even a small hand towel left in there.

'_Hmm… I wonder if Perona grabbed my fresh clothes by mistake_' she thought to herself as she stood in the bathroom wondering what her next move was. She knew her room wasn't far, and maybe she could make a break for it, but she would have to take the chance that either of the two men that live in the castle could be just outside that door. But before she could make her decision she heard the doorknob starting to move and she turned her attention to it. '_Oh thank kami*, that must be Perona. She must have realized that she grabbed my clothes and is bringing them back to me…_'

The door started to push open as Nami sat there staring at it with her hands on her hips, waiting to give Perona a hard time for taking her clothes, but Nami's eyes widened and her mouth dropped as she was met face to face with Zoro standing in front of her wearing nothing but a towel. Both of them froze in shock, Zoro's face mimicking the same expression as the mikan-head's as he just stood there staring at her nude form. Neither made a move, they just both stood there staring at each other, neither knowing what to do…

Suddenly Zoro's towel got ripped off of him and disappeared behind him to somewhere out of Nami's view, her eyes instinctively went down to see the now exposed flesh, but only for a moment because soon the swordsman's body was propelled slightly towards her in an awkward fashion, almost as if he was pushed from behind. Nami had to put her hands out in front of her to stop his momentum from toppling over her and they found themselves in an awkward embrace as the bathroom door slammed shut and they could hear the sound of the door locking from the outside. They both looked at the door, and then back to each other, trying to figure out what had exactly happened, and then they remembered something that brought both of their attentions lower on each other's bodies…

The mikan-head let out a high pitched scream before pushing Zoro away from her hard with both hands, and causing him to fall down to the floor onto his ass. "What the hell do you think you're doing hentai?!" She continued to yell angrily. "Get the hell out of here!"

"Oi, I'm not a damn hentai! I didn't even know you were in here!" The swordsman screamed back at her, glaring at her intensely.

"Quit looking this way baka, or I'll charge you 10,000 Beli for every glance!" Nami desperately looked around the room for anything to cover herself up with and found nothing, she resulted to trying to cover herself up with her hands and arms. "And don't just sit there, get the hell out!" She would occasionally take her hands away from covering herself to find an object to throw at him: first a lotion bottle, then a shampoo, then a conditioner…

Zoro scrambled to his feet and darted for the door, attempting to dodge the objects flying at him but failing as each one connected to the intended target; his head. '_Damn that woman has some accuracy when she is pissed off_' he thought to himself. "Alright… alright… I'm going." He told her trying to get her to quit assaulting him with hygiene products as his hand wrapped around the doorknob only to find is was locked…

-0-0-0-0-

On the other side of the door Perona stood with a huge smile on her face as she heard the commotion on the inside of the bathroom; she was quite proud of her handy work. She also noticed the sound of rapid footsteps heading her way before seeing her husband round the corner and charging straight for the bathroom before directing her attention towards him and giving him a firm "Stop" command with her hand stretched out in front of her. "There is nothing for you to do here, go back downstairs."

"But… but… but I heard Nami-san scream, a lady is in distress…"

"Oi!" They both heard the swordsman's voice call out from behind the door. "I can sense you out there, one of you open this damn door!"

Sanji's eye widened in realization that Zoro and Nami were both trapped in the bathroom together, and if Nami screamed, than something terrible must be happening to her. His mind started racing a mile a minute wondering what improper things the marimo could be doing to his poor Nami-swan. He instinctively started to get closer to the door, but was stopped again by his wife's voice.

"Don't take another step closer to this door. Turn around and go back downstairs and finish dinner up. They are both fine." She told him firmly while crossing her arms over her chest.

"But… marimo… Nami-san… scream…" he stammered his voice. Sanji found himself in a very difficult situation: he so badly wanted to be the night in shining armor, and to go rescue the damsel in distress, but the woman he had pledged his heart to was literally standing in the way of him doing so.

Perona's gaze only became more serious and two negative-hollows appeared on either side of her to show him just how serious she truly was. Sanji finally dropped his head in defeat before turning around to head back down the stairs and to the kitchen, but not before he bellowed out a "Please forgive me Nami-swan!" and ran off in the other direction almost in tears.

Perona's victorious smile returned as her husband disappeared out of sight. But she did find herself jumping, only slightly, when her brother started pounding on the door behind her.

"Dammit Perona!" He screamed through the door pounding on it several more times to show his frustration. "Open this damn door and let us the hell out of here right now! If you don't I'll break the damn thing down!"

"Horo-horo-horo…" was her response to his threat as he continued to pound on the door. "Go ahead, then no one will have any privacy while they are in there. And I would love to hear what you are going to tell father. You remember how he reacted the last time you did damage to the castle right?" The pounding on the door instantly stopped, which was all the more proof Perona needed to know that her point was made. "Don't worry, I'll let you guys out right before dinner, until then just consider it as some bonding time. Maybe Nami can help you get cleaned up? Horo-horo-horo…" Perona continued to laugh as she made her way towards the stairs, but she was kind enough to leave the fresh towels and a set of clean clothes for both Nami and Zoro just beside the door before she left.

-0-0-0-0-

Zoro stood, staring at the door, motionless. He had to fight every fiber of his being to not just break the door down anyway despite Perona's warning. Finally letting out a defeated sigh, he let one hand instinctively reach up to scratch the back of his head as he started to turn around to face the other occupant of the room… only to have a can of spray deodorant get thrown at him and hit him squarely in the face.

"Don't turn back around baka, at least not without covering yourself up." The mikan head screamed at him, from her position now on the sink counter. In her new position she was able to keep her lower half mainly covered, and only needed one arm to cover her breasts, she had also stocked up on multiple items to throw while Zoro was busy pounding on the door and had set them within arm's reach beside her to use at any given notice.

"Dammit woman, would you quit throwing shit at me?" He spat at her furiously. "You act like this is my fault, I'm a victim in this just like you." He then turned his back towards her and sat down on the floor before crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"I'll quit throwing things at you when you quit trying to look this way hentai."

"I'm not a damn hentai, and I'm not looking at you." He responded through grit teeth. He was at odds end with the women of this castle today, and he swore if she threw one more thing at him… "Thud!"

Zoro's hand quickly shot to the back of his head to where the bar of soap had connected, hoping that he could sooth the pain, but it wasn't the pain that was the problem, it was the fact he had reached his limit. He quickly sprang upwards to his feet and turned his attention back onto the mikan-head whose eyes widened in realization that she might have gone too far. He crossed the gap between them, grabbing both of her arms just above the elbows and pushing her back up against the wall. He also closed the gap between their faces, now only centimeters separated them, so he could make sure that she could see the fury clearly visible on his face. "I told you to quit throwing shit at me." He spoke in a very threatening tone through grit teeth. "I wasn't even facing your direction that time witch."

"I… I… was…" Nami was genuinely scared, she knew she had crossed the line, so much so that she thought he had turned back into the demon she had met on first night. "I was just making sure you weren't looking." She wanted to avert her gaze anywhere but his, so she turned her eyes towards the shower stall, and remembered the frosted glass door, she inwardly cursed at herself as she realized that she could have took shelter in there at any time to have avoided this whole situation… but it was too late now. "I… I'm so…" She wanted to apologize, she wanted to tell him that she knew she went too far this time but her pride just wouldn't let her. She chose to just stay silent and look anywhere but at him.

Zoro noticed that she was avoiding eye contact, but she also had a regretful look on her face, he knew she was sorry for what she did, and just didn't know how to say it. He let out a sigh before closing his eye and letting his head fall forward and resting his forehead against the top of her head. He felt her body tense up slightly, but only for a moment before it relaxed. As mad he had been, he just couldn't stay mad at her.

Nami wasn't sure what was going on, but she could tell that his anger and his violent intent towards her had already faded as he rested his head against hers. She felt his grip loosen on her arms to the point where the only thing really keeping them there was the fact that neither of them made an attempt to pull apart. She closed her own eyes and just enjoyed the closeness of his presence to hers, completely forgetting the fact that they were both still very nude.

Zoro knew that they couldn't remain this way forever, even if he truly wanted to: he reluctantly started to slide his left hand down her right arm, purposely letting his fingers glide softly over her forearm, his lips curving into a small smile when he felt her fingers doing the same, until their wrists touched. Part of him wanted his hand to fall into hers and just stay there, but he chose to just let it fall off of her arm to the side instead because that might be too intimate. His right hand took a different path: instead of travelling down her left arm, it travelled upwards towards her shoulder, but stopped very shortly as he felt something different, yet also familiar, about the skin. It wasn't smooth and silky like the rest of her skin had been, it was a little rough in certain parts, and without even looking, Zoro had known exactly what it was. He opened his good eye and removed his head from hers, before tilting it to the side so he could confirm his suspicions, and there staring back at him, was a navy-blue tattoo, in the shape of a Sawshark… there were also several small scars throughout and around the skin where the tattoo was.

Nami felt something change in Zoro's grip after he had lifted his head from hers; it had tightened again but not to the point of hurting her, just enough to steady her arm, his thumb also started to make small circles over one of her scars… Nami's eyes shot open and a horrified look came over her face, because of her carelessness she knew that he had noticed the one thing most that she wanted to hide from him… from everyone for that matter.

Zoro felt Nami's body tense as he continued to examine her arm and shoulder, but he did not stop his actions. He was mainly concentrating on the scars; he had seen enough scars to know what these were caused by, they were stab wounds from a knife. They looked random, as if someone had been trying to destroy the tattoo, he could tell they were self-inflicted. His curious gaze hardened and became serious when he looked into her frightened eyes. "Where did this tattoo come from, who put this on you?"

She noticed how serious, and dangerous, his gaze was; she thought that the danger was directed towards her, and it caused her to get nervous all over again. She couldn't tell him the truth, after all; what would he think about her if he knew the truth, what would they all think about her, she had to lie. "It's nothing" she said while yanking her arm from his hand and trying to scoot off to the side to get off the sink counter. "It's just something stupid I had done a while back at a random tattoo shop and wanted to remove it."

"You're lying." He spoke firmly while trapping her in place by placing one arm on either side of her so she couldn't leave the counter. "I've seen that tattoo before…"

Nami gulped at those words, the last thing she wanted was this man to think that she might be involved _with them_, but she did find herself slightly, but only slightly, relieved when he continued by saying "…I just can't remember where."

Zoro's gaze softened, as did his words. "What are you hiding Nami?"

"Nothing" she quickly responded, with a slight hint of venom in her voice. She wanted to get out of here. '_Damn Perona, the least you could have did was leave me with something I could pick the lock with like a…_' she inwardly cursed at herself again. Not only could she have hid in the shower the entire time, but she also had the means to escape the bathroom the entire time. Now her only obstacle was the swordsman in front of her, who if she didn't know any better; looked as if he was actually concerned about something.

"Yes you are, what is it?" He asked her again. He knew he was on the verge of figuring out something important, something that had been there the entire time but he hadn't really been paying attention to. No one does that to themselves just to remove a tattoo, she hated that tattoo for some reason… no, it wasn't the tattoo itself that she hated, but what it represented, the question is, what did that tattoo represent? He was just about to ask her…

But Nami was done with this conversation. "I said it's nothing, so back off!" She surprised him with a quick kick between his legs driving the breath right out of him, before shoving him backwards with both arms. With some distance between them now she quickly jumped off the counter and headed directly for the door. She reached up into her hair and removed one of the hair-pins she had put in earlier, before bending it so she could use it to pick the lock on the door. It took only a second for her to hear that satisfying pop of the door unlocking, signally that she was free from her little prison and fellow inmate. She quickly opened the door and walked out into the hallway, noticing her clothes and some towels on the ground. She made short work in scooping them up into her arms before she would run off to the safety of her room… but not before checking on the swordsman before she left.

Her heart stopped for a moment at the sight in front of her: he was sitting on the ground, holding a hand in-between his legs over the injured area, and was still trying to catch his breath. But it was the look in his one good eye that she noticed the most. He was looking directly at her, and though he was still in obvious pain, she expected him to be mad about what she did, but the look on his face wasn't of anger, it was of disappointment. Nami didn't know what possessed her, but she let out a quick "Sorry…" and averted her eyes from his "…for throwing the soap at you earlier." She then quickly disappeared down the hall.

Zoro sat on the floor for a few more moments to compose himself. He couldn't help but continue to wonder what it was that she was hiding… or why he even cared? He knew she didn't want to talk about it, she had made that clear, and he wasn't the type to push for answers, but she was different, there was something about her that made him want to help her… but would she even let him help her.

He ran his hand through his hair and noticed how much dirt fell from it after he did, and remembered why he was in the bathroom in the first place. He let out a large sigh before getting up and stepping into the shower stall, hoping a shower would be just the thing he needed to help him clear his head.

-0-0-0-0-

Nami stood in her room with her back pressed firmly to the door, clutching her clothes and the towel into her chest. Now more than ever she hated that damn tattoo on her arm, she would do just about anything to get rid of it, but she knew that causing more harm to herself wouldn't help. Why did he of all people have to see it? Why did he have to look at her like that? She was so frustrated that she felt like she could almost cry… but she shook her head violently instead, as if trying to shake the tears away; she couldn't cry about this, she had to be strong, she still had things she needed to accomplish… But first; she had a bone to pick with a certain Ghost Princess…

**End Chapter 5**

…

…

Author Notes and Translation Notes:

*I figure that Zoro also puts his ambition into his weights while he trains, there for he would be able to use Haki to find them as well.

*My little sis KawaiiNekoNami suggested that it would be funny if a Humandrill mimicked Nami, so I couldn't resist making a mention of it.

*Say what you will about the differences in the anime and manga, but the anime did bring us that hilarious scene of Perona dressing Zoro up in bandages to look like Kumashi :-D

*kami is Japanese for god.

*It should also be mentioned that my brotha Reggie S 42 is actually the one that suggested a scene where Zoro walked in on a naked Nami, and I just let the gears start turning from there.

So just in case people are curious: chapter 4, 5, and 6 will all take place on the same day = it is going to be one hell of a day for our favorite duo ;-}

And because I just can't seem to resist… a couple of more characters finally make their appearances in the next chapter "Yohohoho…"

Alright people, thanks for reading this chapter, and you all know what to do = please review ;-}


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